BANTING: Lawyer N. Pathmanabhan, 41, and three others were jointly charged Wednesday with the murders of cosmetics millionaire Datuk Sosilawati Lawiya and three others.
They were charged before Magistrate Hurman Hussain. The charge against Pathmanabhan was read in Bahasa Malaysia while the charge against the rest was read in Tamil.
They were charged with the murder of Sosilawati, 47, CIMB Bank officer Noorhisham Mohammad, 38, personal lawyer Ahmad Kamil Abd Karim, 32 and driver Kamaruddin Shamsuddin, 44.
Others who were charged with Pathmanabhan were T. Thilaiyalagan, 19, R. Matan, 20, and R. Kathavarayan, 30.
The offence was allegedly committed at Lot 2001, Jalan Tanjung Layang, Tanjung Sepat, Banting between 8.30pm and 9.45pm on Aug 30.
It was reported that the four had gone missing on Aug 30 after telling their families and friends that they were going to Banting to discuss a land deal.
More than a week later, police said they were murdered and burnt, and their ashes thrown into a river near a farm owned by Pathmanabhan.
The accused are also being probed for the murders and disappearance of several others, including Indian millionaire A. Muthuraja, 34, local businessmen Mohd Shafiq Abdullah, 37 and 44-year-old housewife T. Selvi.
No plea was recorded and the court fixed Dec 16 for mention of the case.
The accused were represented by Amer Hamzah Arshad and Ravi Nekoo while prosecution was by Deputy Public Prosecutors Ishak Mohd Yusoff (lead), Saiful Edris Zainudin and Idham Abd Ghani.