DAY 79,80,81 & 82 – Altantuya Murder Trial - Celcom Expert Haizal tracked & traced Calls by Azilah between Oct 19–20 - Murder Scene, to & fro journeys

ABOVE: A combi Photo of the murdered Mongolian translator Altantua Sharriibu and BELOW: The burnt out spot in Puchak Alam 3 weeks after the C4 Blast on her Body
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ABOVE: The trial Court
For more than a week, this Celcom expert with more than eight years of experience finally might have put the nails in the coffins of the accused as he confidently told the Trial Court on Day 79 to 82 how the calls are easily traced from the records of the various transmission cell stations and confirmed there is no possibility of mistakes. He could provide details of the calls made by the first accused Azilah (ABOVE; Mobile No: 019-3636153 to the other two accused including during the journey to and fro from Bukit Aman to the murder scene. Other calls made by him in the days just before the murder were also well documented.
ABOVE: Azilah Hadri and BELOW: Sirul Azhar
Now what will the defense team do to discredit these call transactions? Earlier on, when more junior officers from Celcom testified they were accused of fabricating the data, lying and so on - the usual lawyer’s tactics to cast doubts on evidence which must be “beyond reasonable doubts” in all murder cases.
ABOVE: the first & Second accused and BELOW: The Third accused (Razak Baginda) as seen on Day 72 Trial on Jan 03 08
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Celcom expert says zooming in on location of handphones possible

DAY 79; Maria J.Dass; theSUN

SHAH ALAM (Jan 21, 2008, Monday): The indication that a call had been made or received from a particular location can be determined by the Location Area Code (LAC) and Service Area Code (SAC) for 3G phones, and the LAC and Cell ID for 2G phones.
Celcom (M) Bhd technical specialist Haizal Hambali, 32, said the information derived from the LAC, Cell ID and SAC helps to zoom in on a particular site or location from which a call had been made or received.
It was today the 79th Day of the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder hearing which had for the past month been scrutinising the call details record (CDR) of a prepaid phone used by first accused C/Insp Azilah Hadri.
The record contains the call transactions, LAC and Cell ID information pertaining the number 019-3636153.
Haizal, the trial's 63rd witness, said the LAC, Cell ID and SAC actually indicate the location and identities of the transmitting stations which sends out signals.
"These signals capture the location from which a transaction had been made or received by a phone user," he told the court.
The LAC specifically indicates a location, Cell ID as the name suggests - the identity of a cell while the SAC indicates the exact location of a transmitting station, Haizal said.
"It all depends on the strongest signal received by a phone or other terminals like data card for internet usage," he said.
Explaining how the system works Haizal said, the SAC and Cell ID are actually a subset of the LAC.
One LAC may have three different Cell IDs or SACs, and a combination of these two (LAC and cell ID or LAC and SAC) can be used to determine the location of a transmitting station, he added.

Haizal said no two areas share the same LAC.
"We also use a system whereby each SAC is unique to a particular transmitting station," he said.He said the codes for LAC, SAC and Cell IDs are different.
"The 3G LAC is four digits, SAC is five digits, while for the Cell ID it is between one to five digits," said Haizal. Hearing continues on Thursday (Jan 24).after Thaipusam Holiday on Jan 23

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Tuesday January 22, 2008; STAR
DAY 79
Technician tells how calls traced

SHAH ALAM: A Celcom technician explained how a caller was traced through the handphone number used in making the call. Haizal Hambali, 32, said the caller could be traced from the transmission station through the Service Area Code (SAC), Location Code (LAC) and Cell ID Code. The code for a particular area was different from another, he said.
Replying to Deputy Public Prosecutor Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, the 63rd prosecution witness, said: “LAC constitutes a big area while Cell ID is a subset, namely a cell in a LAC.”

Tun Majid:(ABOVE) “Can you give an example by referring to an area?”

Haizal: “The LAC for 3G in Kuala Lumpur is 1011. In the LAC, there are several transmission stations and each uses the same LAC but each also has its own SAC. For 2G, the LAC is 11001 and in the LAC, there are several cells.”
Tun Majid: “So, to identify an area, for example Kuala Lumpur, the Cell ID or SAC is more specific and focused on an area in the LAC?”
Haizal: “Yes.”
Tun Majid: “Is a value used for one or several areas?

Haizal: “1011 is used for only one area.”
Tun Majid: “So, no two areas use the same LAC?”

Haizal: “No.”
He added that Celcom used a system where each SAC was for one transmission station and if there were three transmission stations in an LAC, each station would have a different SAC value.
Haizal said that to trace a caller, he had to have the LAC and the Cell ID or SAC to identify the location of the transmission station.
Before Haizal took the witness stand, Celcom’s information technology analyst Syed Mustaqim Syed Yusoff, 27, said he did not lie in court and did not create the Cell ID and LAC.

The trial before Justice Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin continues on Thursday.
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Expert explains how cellphone calls are tracked; Maria J. Dass the SUN

DAY 80

SHAH ALAM (Jan 24, 2008): Celcom (M) Bhd technical specialist Haizal Hambali told the court today how he prepared a coverage prediction document which shows the serving stations along the route from Bukit Aman to Kota Damansara.
He said that on June 16 last year, he had accompanied investigating officers DSP Gan Teck Guan and ASP Tonny Lunggan on a site visit to identify the various Celcom transmitting stations along the way.
Haizall said the site visit started at Bukit Damansara and on to Bangsar, Bukit Aman, Kota Damasara through Jalan Duta, through the North-South Highway (PLUS), the North Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) and out through the Kota Damansara toll.
"We then headed to Puncak Alam via the old road and turned into Puncak Alam from which I was then taken to the crime scene before heading back to Kuala Lumpur," he said.
Haizall said that he had identified the physical location of the transmitting stations along the route using a drive measurement tool.
The tool was used to determine the serving stations whenever a call was made via a test number along the route.
Haizal said he based his coverage prediction on the call details record for phone number 019-3636153 which was used by first accused C/Insp Azilah Hadri which he had obtained from Syed Mustaqim, and the data obtained from the drive management tool.
Haizal said his tests began at the entrance of Bukit Aman. He said his next destination was near Bukit Damansara where he made a test call from a lane which is said to be near on Razak’s house, adding that the serving sites here were Plaza Damansara and Masjid Saidina Omar.
To questions by DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah before lunch, Haizal said changes to a Location Area Code (LAC) due to the introduction of a new transmission tower for instance will not alter site name.
Tun Abdul Majid had asked whether there would be any changes to the sites mentioned in the raw data tendered in court if it were analysed today.
"No, as the location from which a person made or received a call would be the same as this will be based on the Cell ID." Haizal said.
Haizall earlier told the court that he had used the parameter data for Nov 17 to 18, 2006, to extract information on the location and site name for two Celcom numbers between Oct 16 and 21, 2006, as this would give a more accurate picture. (Parameters refers to a combination of LAC, Cell ID and site name for 2G phones, and LAC, Service Area Code (SAC) and Cell ID). Haizal said the parameters can change. He explained that for 2G and 3G numbers there were only a few paramenters which could be changed from time to time - these were the switch and LAC.
However the Cell ID would be the same for 2G phones.
As for 3G phones the data in the raw data which could change is the LAC, but the switch and LAC would remain the same, he added.
Earlier in the morning, Haizal testified that he had received an email from his colleague Syed Mustaquim in which he was asked to do mapping based on some transmission station data given by Syed Mustaqim.
He said he drew up two new columns with information on site names and regions which he added to the raw date which Syed Mustaqim had given him.
"The new data on the site name and region in the two columns, I obtained via the Cell ID and LAC information for 2G phones in the raw data, while the information for 3G phones I obtained by using the LAC and SAC information form the raw data," said Haizal.
"After I had completed this process I changed the LAC and Call ID column titles as this were not in tandem with the naming convention system which is in use," he said.According to convention, the column six should show the Call ID details while column seven should show LAC details, said Haizal.
Haizal is the 63rd witness to testify on the 80th day of the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder hearing which continues next Wednesday (Jan 30).
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Azilah's phone number traced to murder scene

Maria J. Dass; theSUN

SHAH ALAM (Jan 30, 2008): The transactions of the 019-3636153 phone number used by first accused C/Insp Azilah Hadri was traced from Bukit Aman to the surrounding areas of Puncak Alam - where the remains of a woman were recovered - between 8pm and midnight of Oct 19, 2006, the High Court heard today.Celcom (M) Bhd technical specialist Haizal Hambali, 32, who had prepared a coverage prediction document which identifies the transmission stations along the route between Bukit Aman and Puncak Alam testified on the call transactions of Azilah starting from 8.42pm on the night of Oct 19.

(Mongolian interpreter Altantuya Shaariibuu is believed to have been murdered between 10.30pm on Oct 19, 2006, and 1am on Oct 20 in the Puncak Alam catchment area.)
The transaction records show Azilah’s journey starting in Bukit Aman which was recorded by the Jalan Parliament transmission station. This was followed by a transaction record at the TM Damasara station near Bukit Damansara, Bangsar Mall station in Bangsar, the TM Duta station (located between Jalan Duta and the North South Highway), the Sapura Tower station between Jalan Mahameru and Jalan Duta, the Jalan Duta toll transmission station at the entrance of the North Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) and the NKVE (The Rock) station.
Another two transactions were recorded by the Section 4 Kota Damasara transmission station near the NKVE toll exit at 10.02pm and 10.03pm.
Following this, another transaction was made at 10.19pm and this was recorded by the Kampung Melayu Subang station.The records show another phone transaction from the Celcom line used by Azilah at the Kota Damansara toll exit at 11.52pm on the night of Oct 19. This transaction was recorded by the KM19 NKVE transmission station.
This followed two other transactions - one made at 11.40pm captured by the U3 SA (Section U3, Shah Alam) transmission station and another at 11.48pm captured by the Section 4 Kota Damansara transmission station. Last week Haizal, the 63 witness testifying on the 81st day of the murder hearing, had told the court he prepared the document after he had accompanied investigating officers DSP Gan Tack Guan and ASP Tonny Lunggan on a drive along the route which was based on the data shown in the Call Details Record of the Celcom prepaid phone line used by Azilah.
Haizal said he had used a drive measurement tool to record all the data which he obtained using a test number last June 16.

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Expert: No possibility of mistakes

Maria J.Dass; the SUN
SHAH ALAM: Celcom (M) Bhd technical specialist Haizal Hambali, 32, said there is no possibility of mistakes in the Celcom coverage report. Haizal is the prosecution’s 63rd witness in the Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial which is into its 82nd day of hering today.
Questioned by DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah, Haizal said during the time he has been working with the Celcom mobile access planning department, he has not experienced or known of any mistakes on the coverage data. He testified earlier that he had been attached to the telecommunications company for eight years.
Tun Abdul Majid: (This could) not possibly happen?

Haizal: Possibly not.

Haizal who prepared a coverage predicition document which identifies the transaction stations along the route between Bukit Aman and Puncak Alam (the scene where the remains of a woman was found) and back testified on the call transactions of first accused C/Insp Azilah Hadri starting from 8.42pm on the night of Oct 19.
Azilah, 31 a police Special Action Unit personnel is jointly charged with his colleague Sirul Azhar Umar, 35, with murdering Mongolian Altantuya Shaariibu between 10.30pm on Oct 19, 2006, and 1am on Oct 20 in the Puncak Alam catchment area.Political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 45 is charged with abetting them

Haizal said the number used by Azilah was detected in the surroundings of the Puncak Alam area where a woman was blown up at 11.28pm on Oct 19 (ABOVE, 4th Line). He said a transaction of the phone number was recorded by the Puncak Perdana transmission station during this time. This was followed by transactions captured by the Section U3 Shah Alam transmission station at 11.40pm (ABOVE 5th Line), KM19 North Klang Valley Expressway station at 11.52pm and Bukit Aman at 12.25am on Oct 20 - indicating the return journey of the user to the police headquarters.
Last week, Haizal told the court that he prepared the document after he had accompanied investigating officers DSP Gan Tack Guan and ASP Tonny Lunggan on a drive along the route which was based on the data shown in the Call Details Record of the Celcom prepaid phone line used by Azilah. He had used a drive measurement tool to record all the data which he obtained using a test number last June 16.
The transaction records show Azilah’s journey starting at Bukit Aman which was recorded by the Jalan Parliament transmission station, follwed by transaction records at Bukit Damansara, Bangsar, Jalan Duta, back to Bukit Aman and on towards the Puncak Alam area.
Updated: 03:16PM Thu, 31 Jan 2008
= == = == =from Bernama via STAR; DAY 82

Friday February 1, 2008
Witness: Azilah contacted Sirul and Razak
SHAH ALAM: A Celcom Bhd employee told the Altantuya Shariibuu murder trial that there had never been any mistake in call records from its transmission stations. Haizal Hambali, a technician with the telco's access planning division, said in the eight years that he had been with the company, he had never come across any such error. Haizal, the prosecution's 63rd witness in the trial, which entered its 82nd day yesterday, was clarifying the earlier testimonies two witnesses from the company on the calls made by C/Insp Azilah Hadri, the first accused in the case.
Azilah, 32, and Cpl Sirul Azhar Umar, 37, are charged with murdering the 28-year-old Mongolian at Bukit Rajah, Selangor between 10pm on Oct 19 and 1am on Oct 20, 2006. Political analyst Abdul Razak Abdullah Baginda, 46, is charged with abetting them. They face the death penalty, if convicted.
According to records, transactions involving the handphone used by Azilah were traced from Bukit Aman to the surrounding areas of Puncak Alam (the location of the crime) between 8pm and midnight on Oct 19 that year.The call records also showed that the accused had contacted Sirul Azhar and Abdul Razak in the days preceding the murder. Continuing with his testimony yesterday, Haizal said the company's Puncak Alam transmission station's records showed that Azilah made calls at 10.43pm and 11.16 pm on Oct 19 while a third call was detected by their Bukit Asmara station at 11.26pm.
Asked by DPP Tun Abdul Majid Tun Hamzah during examination-in-chief why the third call was not detected on the Puncak Alam transmission station but the Bukit Asmara one, Haizal said: “When we are in a high place, we will get signals from a station that is far. On top a hill there are no other strong dominant factors, as such, the mobile phone can pick any nearby signal.”
He said after that, the Puncak Perdana station (nearest to the murder scene) detected another call that was made at 11.28pm to L/Kpl Rohaniza Roslan (Azilah's girlfriend). Thereafter Azilah's calls were detected at Section U3 Shah Alam, Section 4 Kota Damansara, Km19 NKVE and Bukit Aman at 12.25am the next day.
“Based on the call transactions, the holder of the phone moved from Bukit Aman to Kampung Melayu, Subang before reaching the hill in Puncak Alam where the murder is said to have taken place, then moved back to Bukit Aman via Section U3, Shah Alam, Section 4 Kota Damansara and the NKVE (North Klang Valley Expressway),” he said.

He said although the Location Area Code might be the same, the actual locations would still be different because the LAC represented a very wide area within which there were many transmission stations, each with its own identity code.
The hearing before Judge Datuk Mohd Zaki Md Yasin resumes on Monday (Feb 4 08).