The accused, Hazafee Mohamed and Hasrun Mohd Yusof, both 37, Fairuz Mahasan, 41, Najmuddin Ahmad Zamri, 21, Norhazri Muhammad Nor, 45, and his two sons, Danish Syahmi, 22, and Darwish Syahmi, 20, entered their pleas before magistrate Amirul Asyraf Abdul Rasid.

They were jointly charged with wrongfully confining three men, aged between 23 and 30, at a house in Jalan Pantai Bisikan Bayu, Cherang Ruku, Pasir Puteh, around 4am on Sept 25.

Another accused, Yang Marliziana Mohd Ramli, 37, was charged with abetting the wrongful confinement and concealing information related to the offence, allegedly committed at the Pasar Peringat bus stop here, at about 4pm, the same day.

The seven were charged under Section 347 of the Penal Code, read with Section 34 of the same Act, while Marliziana was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code. If convicted, they face a maximum prison sentence of three years, a fine, or both.

Magistrate Amirul denied bail for four of the accused, namely Norhazri, Hazafee, Hasrun and Fairuz, while granting bail of RM5,000 each to Najmuddin, Danish Syahmi and Darwish Syahmi, and RM4,000 for Marliziana, each with one surety.

The court fixed Nov 30 for case mention and document submission.

Meanwhile, at the Kota Bharu sessions court, the same four accused, Norhazri, Hazafee, Hasrun and Fairuz, also pleaded not guilty to a charge of committing armed robbery against the same victims and claimed trial before judge Zulkifli Abdullah.

They were accused of committing the offence and displaying a .38 S&W revolver, causing fear of death to the victims, under a bridge in Gong Kulim, Pasir Puteh, at about 4.35pm on Sept 25.

The charge, under Section 4 of the Firearms (Increased Penalties) Act 1971, carries a maximum sentence of 40 years’ imprisonment and at least six strokes of the cane upon conviction.

The court denied bail for all four and set Nov 9 for mention and document submission.