An anguished mother in search of her son - missing since the police handcuffed him away six days ago - stormed into the Brickfields police station in Kuala Lumpur this morning alleging that police were covering-up the true facts surrounding her missing son.

Accompanied by three lawyers and members of the NGO Police Watch and Human Rights Committee, Sara Lilly George screamed when informed that Brickfields district police chief Zulhasnan Najib Baharudin would not be meeting her this morning as arranged.

"Please ask him to come down and meet me. I wish to speak to him. I want my son. I want my son, that is all," she said, breaking into a sob.

Sara, 45, tragically believes that her 24-year-old son, P Francis Udayapan - announced as having escaped police custody on Friday - is already dead.

She also believes that the police had murdered Francis while in custody and are now trying to cover-up by claiming that he had jumped into the Klang River following his escape.

Brickfields chief ACP Zulhasnan said on Friday - two days after Francis' arrest - that the detainee had escaped from their custody while he was being taken for interrogation.

He said that Francis had jumped off the first floor of the police station and squeezed through a hole in the fence before jumping into the Klang River which flows behind the station's compound.

Arrested in Sentul, he said Francis was expected to be held for six days in connection with two robbery cases that occurred on April 14.

Sara, in her four-page police report lodged today, painted a radically different story than the police chief's

Handphone case

She claims that four police personnel - two of whom she managed to identify by name and rank - arrived at their home in Taman Dato' Senu, Sentul at 12pm on April 14 and handcuffed her son saying he was a suspect in a handphone theft case and a number of other incidents reported to them by various parties including his (Francis') ex-girlfriend.

She claims that in the same afternoon, she went to the Brickfields station to meet with one of the officers who arrested her son. There, she said, a corporal advised her to settle the matter with the complainant as a handphone theft case was a small matter.

Taking the advice, Sara said she later met the complainant who agreed to withdraw his theft charge after being offered RM500 as settlement.

The following day, Sara told Francis - who telephoned her from inside the station's lock-up - that the matter had been settled, and that he would be freed anytime soon.

"My son's last words were: Take care of my wife Nalini," she said adding that on Friday evening, she received a call from the police informing her that her son, handcuffed at the time, had jumped from the first floor of the station.

She alleges that the police corporal informed her that Francis' handcuff gave way on impact of the jump, and that another corporal gave chase as Francis squeezed from under the fence and ran towards the Klang River.

She says the corporal told her that while the officer had to abandon the effort when he broke his leg jumping off the first floor, he saw Francis being washed away by the river currents.

"My son could not have jumped off the river as he cannot swim," said Sara in her statement.

'Engage lawyer'

She claimed that things took a turn for the worse when she received on Saturday an anonymous phone call that said her son as severely beaten by police while in custody inside the Brickfields police station.

The caller said that when Francis died as a result of his injuries, the police threw him into the Klang river, said Sara in her statement.

"This caller told me that the police were lying to me when they said my son escaped from custody ... the caller frantically repeated that my son was killed by the police and thrown into the river."

Sara also questioned the Brickfields police chief's statement to the press that Francis was arrested in connection with two robberies.

"They said my son is a suspect in a mere handphone theft case ... there is no reason for him to escape and risk his life being shot.

"There are many barriers in the Klang river. He would have been found by now if he has drwoned. If he was alive, I'm sure police tracker dogs would have detected him," she said.

At the station this morning, Sara also led reporters to the back of the police station's compound to examine the route of how Francis could have escaped from custody. A hole in the compound fence was visible and had been temporarily covered with barbed wire.

New appointment

Later, Sara and her family walked into the main complaints room of the police station and demanded that they meet a senior officer if the OCPD could not see them

As they vocalised their frustration, a police officer standing at the door of the complaints room shouted for the arrest of those present triggering an angry response from representatives of the Police Watch and Human Rights Committee, who are also acting as lawyers for Sara.

Subsequently, deputy Brickfields police chief Muhammad Fuad Abu Zarim met with group but declined to comment on why Zulhasnan was unable to fulfill his morning appointment with the group, or whether the conduct of his officer in threatening arrest was in violation of proper police conduct.

He later said that Sara's appointment with Zulhasan had been re-scheduled for tomorrow morning.

A police report on the arrest threat was subsequently lodged by S Manickavasagam, who is also Parti Keadilan Rakyat youth wing vice-president.

Sara's lawyers P Uthayakumar and N Surendran said that the case would also be brought to the attention of the Police Commission - a16-member special panel appointed by the Yang Di Pertuan Agong to look into the conduct and management of the police force.

They said a copy of Sara's report today has been sent to commission chairperson Mohamed Dzaiddin Abdullah.