The 45-year-old corporal, currently with the Petaling Jaya district police headquarters, said he carried out his duties based on instructions from two investigating officers – Insp Nina Syamimi Syamsuddin and ASP Hafizee Ismail.

Examined by deputy public prosecutor Kamarul Iman Ahmad Sapian, he said he had also taken instructions from a forensics team.

Hirwan said Nina directed him on Dec 7, 2023 to take photographs of Zayn Rayyan during and after a post-mortem at Hospital Sungai Buloh.

“I took a total of 142 photographs,” he said, adding that the case was initially classified as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

The following day, he went with a forensics team to an apartment at PJU Damansara Damai, said to be the crime scene, to take photographs of the premises.

Hirwan, who joined the police force in 2000, said he was also instructed to take photographs of a “pondok” located near the apartment on Dec 12 that year.

“I was also instructed to take pictures of three motorcycles parked there,” he said.

Cross-examined by lawyer Haresh Mahadevan, he said all the photographs were taken strictly on the instructions of the investigating officers and the forensics team.

Zayn Rayyan’s parents, Zaim Ikhwan Zahari and Ismanira Abdul Manaf, both 30, are charged with neglecting the six-year-old boy in a manner likely to cause him physical harm.

The offence allegedly occurred at PJU Damansara Damai between noon on Dec 5 and 9.55pm on Dec 6, 2023.

The charge is framed under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001, punishable by a maximum fine of RM50,000, imprisonment of up to 20 years, or both, upon conviction.

Zayn Rayyan was reported missing on Dec 5, 2023, and his body was discovered in a stream near his home at Apartment Idaman in Damansara Damai the following day.

He was believed to have been murdered, after an autopsy revealed injuries to his neck and body, consistent with self-defence.

The hearing before trial judge Syahliza Warnoh continues at 11am tomorrow.