However, no plea was recorded from the accused, aged between 26 and 40, after the charge was read out to them before magistrate Nur Melati Diana Abd Wahab as murder cases have to be heard in the High Court.

S Jeyenthiran, 34, S Simeon, 31, Basharuddin Hammersla, 26, T Selvamani, 40, and V Thiruganesh, 36, together with two other individuals still at large, are alleged to have murdered A Preshna, 40, at Jalan Che Puteh, between 7.30am and 5.30pm, on May 23.

The charge is under Section 302 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same law, which carries the mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

Jeyenthiran, Simeon, Basharuddin and Selvamani were also charged with kidnapping Preshna in order to murder him, under Section 364 of the Penal Code read together with Section 34 of the same code which provides a death sentence or maximum 30 years’ jail and whipping, if convicted.

They were alleged to have committed the offence at an abandoned building here, at 7.30am, on the same day.

The prosecution was conducted by deputy public prosecutor K Darinee while the accused were represented by K Nahtan and Charan Singh.

The court set August 4 for mention.

Meanwhile Ipoh district police chief A Asmadi Abdul Aziz, in a statement today, said the police are also tracking down two individuals to assist in investigations into this murder case.

The two are Harjit Singh Terlok Singh, also known as Kishen, 25, whose last known address is Menglembu here, and M Muralitharan or Murali, 23, from Tanjung Rambutan.