POLICE have no clue how three photographs of missing Pastor Raymond Koh, and his car’s registration plate, ended up in a trafficker’s house in Pengkalan Hulu, Perak, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) inquiry heard today.

Officers found the photos and licence plate, bearing the registration number “ST5515D”, last year during a raid on the house, located hundreds of kilometres from where Koh was abducted.

Commenting on the find then, former inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar had said it was hoped that the photos and licence plate would shed light on Koh’s disappearance.

However, all such hopes were dashed today, when a senior officer testified that police had hit a wall.

Suhakam commissioner Mah Weng Kwai asked federal Criminal Investigation Department deputy director Huzir Mohamed how the photos ended up in the house of a suspect who had been shot dead earlier.

“Is there any evidence to show how the pictures ended up in the dead suspect’s home? How did they get there?”

Huzir said officers raided the house in Kg Selarong and found a home-made bomb, live bullets and flags, apart from the photos.

“When police raided the house, they found pictures of Koh.

“How the pictures got there? Nobody can answer that. Not even the suspect’s wife.”

No mention, however, was made of the licence plate.

On June 17 last year, a suspected drug smuggler and human trafficker was shot dead near Kg Weng in Ulu Lenggong, Kedah. Police also arrested three of the suspect’s accomplices.

Further investigations led police to the dead man’s house, where they found the photos of Koh.

Huzir said police questioned all the suspects, and found that they were not linked to Koh’s case.

He said the trio were not charged with any crime, but released on bail.

Koh was abducted in Petaling Jaya on February 13 last year by about 15 men in three black SUVs.

The abduction was caught on closed-circuit television cameras, and has been described as a well-coordinated operation.

The Suhakam inquiry seeks to determine whether the disappearance of Koh, Perlis Hope founder Amri Che Mat, as well as Pastor Joshua Hilmy and his wife, Ruth, are cases of enforced disappearance sanctioned by the state. – September 7, 2018.