Allegedly incriminating statement against second accused corporal Sirul Azhar Umar will not be admitted as evidence in the on-going Altantuya Shaariibuu murder trial, posing another setback to the prosecution case.

The Shah Alam High Court ruled this morning that the statement made last week by ASP Zulkarnain Samsudin is inadmissible, as it is a statement and was not gathered under Section 8 of the Evidence Act 1950 as required.

The witness' statement referred to Sirul's disclosure of the spot where Mongolian national was blasted.

Under examination, Zulkarnain, 34 - who testified that he had taken Sirul to the crime scene on Nov 6 last year - had said: "(Sirul) can point out the place where the Mongolian woman was blown up."

He said that Sirul had gone to the crime scene with police and told them, "I can show where the woman was blasted."

But this was rejected by judge Mohd Zaki Md Yasin.

"I am not prepared to consider the statement by the second accused... the statement is inadmissible," he said.

The prosecution has sustained several blows to date, including Sirul's purported confession being ruled inadmissable.

Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri, 30, and Sirul, 35, are charged with the murder of the Mongolian national while political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda, 47, is charged with abetting them.

Prosecutors say Abdul Razak Baginda, 47, planned her killing and ordered two police officers to carry it out. All three face the death penalty if found guilty.

Foot-long bone

Later, continuing with his testimony, Zulkarnain said he saw a foot-long bone at the crime scene in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam on Nov 6 last year.

Zulkarnain, during examination by deputy public prosecutor Tun Majid Tun Hamzah said Sirul had showed him two locations.

"Sirul show me two spots. One was the clearing near some bushes. The other was amongst the bushes.

"It was the second spot that I saw a 1 to 1.5 foot long bone and several pieces of what I suspected were bones. I also saw burnt leaves," the Serious Crimes unit officer said.

Zulkarnain also told the court that Sirul had showed him the way to his house located in Kota Damansara on Nov 7 last year.

"Sirul showed us his room which was located at the end of the apartment and we followed him. He then opened his cupboard door and showed us a black jacket.

"I checked the jacket and I found a Larmes watch, a diamond ring and a pair of earrings on the inside left pocket," he said.

The police officer said he spent 15 minutes in Sirul's house.

The bomb disposal unit - which Zulkarnain contacted before leaving for Sirul's house - went to search the house for 20 minutes after him. The special action squad (UTK) followed soon after to retrieve equipment belonging to the police.

Another trial within a trial?

After the lunch break, Zulkarnain testified that Sirul had said 'I kept the jewellery in my jacket' and had nodded and pointed at the jewellery with his finger when they were at his Kota Damansara house.

Defence lawyer Kamarul Hisham Kamaruddin objected to this testimony and applied for the statement to be excluded. He said that a trial within a trial was needed to determine the admissibility of the evidence.

Tun Majid however contested that the judge carried the discretion to exclude any evidence and said a trial within a trial was not needed.

After Mohd Zaki heard brief submissions by both parties, he adjourned the court and told the counsel to submit their arguments tomorrow.

"You can submit further tomorrow morning. Limit it to submission on whether there is a needed for a trial within a trial for the purpose of exclusion only," he said.

The trial resumes tomorrow.