Man denies murdering businessman found stuffed under a bed in hotel
The body of a Bangladeshi businessman was found bound in a black garbage bag secured with layers of adhesive tape in a guest house in Nathan Road, a jury heard yesterday.
The Court of First Instance was told that Razzak Mohammed Abdur, 31, died of suffocation, caused by the plastic sheet, gag and tape tightly covering his head. Defendant Zabed Ali, 25, also Bangladeshi, pleaded not guilty yesterday to one charge of murdering Abdur five years ago.
The court heard that Abdur travelled to Hong Kong often to buy spare parts for his business servicing sewing machines in Bangladesh. On this occasion, in June 1999, he was carrying US$30,000 and staying at the New Guangzhou Guest House, in Chungking Mansions, Nathan Road.
On June 26, he went to his supplier and ordered $70,000 worth of goods. He said he would return two days later, on June 28, to examine the parts and pay for them in cash. He never returned.
Prosecuting senior government counsel Dee Crebbin told the jury that Abdur was found dead that day, gagged and bound, in a guest house in Mirador Mansions, a few minutes' walk from Chungking Mansions. The time of death was estimated to be late on June 27 or the early hours of June 28.
