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Trial of two Pakistanis accused of murder involving dismemberment begins
Photo: Yahoo Singapore/Safhras Khan
The trial of two Pakistani men accused of being involved in a grisly murder of a compatriot whose body was dismembered began on Tuesday (8 November).
Rasheed Muhammad, 45 and Ramzan Rizwan, 27, each pleaded not guilty to one charge of murder at the High Court. They are accused of murdering Muhammad Noor, 59, in a room at 6 Rowell Road on 11 June 2014.
The duo entered their plea in Urdu via an interpreter. If found guilty of murder, they face the death penalty.
Rasheed and Ramzan, who are represented by lawyers Wong Siew Hong and R.S. Bajwa, respectively, remained emotionless and kept their heads down throughout the proceeding.
In her opening address, Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) Ong Luan Tze said that the duo, along with the deceased, were residing in a lodging house at Rowell Road. Rasheed and Muhammad Noor were staying in room 44 while Ramzan was staying in room 42.
The trio were gambling on the night of 10 June 2014 when both Rasheed and Ramzan lost some money to the deceased.
Attacked victim to recover money
DPP Ong said the prosecution intends to prove that the duo planned to attack Muhammad Noor in an attempt to recover the money that they had lost.
The court heard that sometime after midnight on 11 June, Rasheed and Ramzan met outside room 44 and entered the room together. Ramzan used a shirt to press it against Muhammad Noor’s face while Rasheed strangled the victim with a cloth string.
After overpowering Muhammad Noor until he was motionless, the two accused took a total of $6,000 from the victim.
DPP Ong said the duo went to Mustafa Centre on the morning of 11 June to buy a grey luggage bag and an electric jigsaw before heading back to Rowell Road, where they bought a bow saw and trash bags.
Returning to the room where Muhammad Noor’s body was in, the accused sawed off Muhammad Noor’s legs at the upper thigh area. They then packed the torso and legs into the trash bags.
Later in the same morning, the accused returned to Mustafa Centre and bought a black luggage bag. They packed the torso in the grey bag and the legs in the black bag.
Disposing the corpse
The court heard that Rasheed and Ramzan then cleaned up the room before
proceeding to dispose the two bags.
DPP Ong said Ramzan pulled the black bag all the way to Jalan Kubor Muslim Cemetery, near Victoria Street, and left it against a wall. As Ramzan was walking back, he saw Rasheed pulling the other bag.
The two then pulled the bag together and while they were along Syed Alwi Road, one of the wheels on the bag broke. They tried lifting the bag but when they saw blood dripping from it, they abandoned the bag in the area.
Later, the grey bag was discovered by an 81-year-old man who tried to push it to a police station. It was not mentioned in court why he wanted to bring the bag to the station.
Several people saw the elderly man pushing the bag and helped him but when they found out a dead body inside it, one of them called the police.
The two accused were arrested on 12 June at 6 Rowell Road. Later in the day, Rasheed led police to the cemetery where the black bag containing the victim’s legs was found.
The hearing will continue on Wednesday (9 November).
