The three men – V Nanta Kumar, 51, Miren Ram, 24, and Krithik Ram, 22 – pleaded not guilty to the charge of causing injury to clerk A Vinayagamoorthy, 41, which resulted in his death.

A fourth suspect, who was also charged, remains at large.

The offence was allegedly committed at a scrap metal yard in Taman Bukit Serdang, Seri Kembangan in Petaling, Selangor, at 1.30pm on Aug 4.

The charge, under Section 304(a) of the Penal Code and read with Section 34 of the same law, provides for up to 30 years in prison and a fine, if found guilty.

Deputy public prosecutor Ahmad Zuhaini Amin asked the court not to allow bail for the three accused. However, their lawyer, Suraj Singh, requested that his clients be allowed bail as the trio had health problems and were supporting their families.

Suraj was assisted by lawyer Kailash Sharma.

Judge Faiz Dziyauddin allowed the three accused bail of RM10,000 with one surety each. However, he ordered them to surrender their passports to the court and report once a month to a nearby police station.

The court set Sept 19 for mention.