SHAH ALAM, Dec 18 — The 30th witness in the murder trial of former Cradle Fund chief executive officer Nazrin Hassan told the High Court here today that it was difficult for him to determine whether the fire in the victim’s bedroom was caused by an electrical problem.
Energy Commission (ST) assistant director for Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, Abdul Rahim Wan Chik, 38, said this was because all the electrical appliances in the room had been taken by the Fire Department at the time, with all the sockets also sealed.
“However, the inspection found that the two-storey house was equipped with two three-phase electricity distribution boxes.
“The investigation also found that the load of the electricity supplied to the burned bedroom was normal (adequate),” he said when questioned by DPP Ashyraf Ashy’ari Kamaruzaman before Judge Datuk Ab Karim Ab Rahman today.
When asked how short circuits could occur, Abdul Rahim said it usually happened when a neutral cable came in contact with the live cable.
Ashyraf Ashy’ari: Can a short circuit occur involving a mobile phone charger cable?
Abdul Rahim: In the mobile phone cable, there is no live and neutral wire. Electronic equipment use direct current.
Ashyraf Ashy’ari: If there is a short circuit, what will happen to the distribution box?
Abdul Rahim: In general, the miniature circuit breaker (MCB) protection system in the distribution box will be ‘tripped’ to cut off the electricity supply.
Ashyraf Ashy’ari: When the electricity supply is cut off by the MCB system due to a short circuit, is there a possibility of a fire?
Abdul Rahim: No, because the tripping time is very fast, namely under 40 milliseconds. According to the test done on the distribution box on the top floor of the house, we found that the ‘tripping time’ was 18.31 milliseconds.
Ashyraf Ashy’ari: On June 27 (2018), what did Mr. Rahim (you) investigate?
Abdul Rahim: I conducted the residual current device test on the upper and lower floors of the house and found that the distribution box’s protection system was working.
On March 12, 2019, Nazrin’s wife Samirah Muzaffar, 45, a former senior executive at the Malaysian Intellectual Property Corporation and two teenagers, aged 17 and 14, along with an Indonesian national, Eka Wahyu Lestari, who is still at large, were charged with Nazrin’s murder.
They were alleged to have committed the offence at a house in Mutiara Damansara between 11.30pm on June 13, 2018, and 4am on June 14, 2018.
The trial continues Monday (December 21). — Bernama
