Kota Kinabalu: A police officer told the Coroner’s Court on Thursday that among the 15 mobile phones analysed in the inquest of Zara Qairina Mahathir, some devices contained deleted information that could be partially recovered using XRY software, although not all data was retrievable.
Computer Crime Investigation Unit analyst ASP Mohd Zaidi Abu Hassan, who has 19 years of experience in the field, said some deleted data from the mobile phones was successfully extracted using the XRY software.
“I used the XRY software to analyse mobile phones to obtain data such as contacts, images, videos, WhatsApp messages, SMS, and information from social media.
The software can also analyse memory cards and SIM cards.
“In this case, I was able to extract deleted data from iPhones, but for phones using Android, the deleted data could not be extracted.
“Based on the XRY software, some mobile phones were able to produce data while others were not.
“For phones with deleted data, I did not focus on any specific information. I only extracted whatever the XRY software was able to retrieve, whether the data had been deleted or not,” he said.
Mohd Zaidi further told the court that all exhibits were received in good condition, except for three items, and that all exhibits were handed over to him by his personnel.
After receiving the exhibits for analysis, he said he first checked whether the phones were functioning, then determined if they were password-protected before connecting them to his computer for extraction using the XRY software.
To ensure the integrity of the exhibits was preserved, he said all items were kept in a locked cabinet in the exhibit store, to which only he had access.
Mohd Zaidi also told the court that the first submission, received on Aug 8, 2025, was analysed on Aug 11, 2025, while the second submission, received on Aug 19, 2025, was analysed on Aug 20, 2025.
He said six days were required to analyse the first submission and three days for the second, as the first involved 11 mobile phones and therefore took more time compared to the second, which involved only four units.
