Inspector-general of police Ismail Omar has been urged to monitor investigations into the death of a suspect in police custody at the Miri Central Police Station (CPS) last Wednesday.

NONE DAP Piasau assemblyperson Ling Sie Kiong ( left ) in an open letter to the IGP also called on Ismail to exclude police officers from that particular station from the investigation, so as to avoid suspicions and ruin the credibility of the investigation.

Yesterday, Douglas Jubin Lagan lodged a police report at Miri CPS over his father’s death and demanded an “immediate investigation

According to The Borneo Post , 59-year-old Lagan Dollah AK Gaong, who was arrested in connection with a break-in at a security firm's office in Miri on Tuesday morning, was found dead in a cell.

The break-in at the security firm, where more than RM60,000 has been reported missing, was claimed to be an inside job, with Lagan accused of being one of the security guards involved.

Police call it 'sudden death'

At press conference at the Miri police headquarters at at 9pm yesterday, Miri police chief ACP Mun Kock Keong categorised Lagan's the case as "sudden death".

Ling also sent a letter to Miri Hospital director Dr Jack Wong Siew NONE Yu yesterday, seeking a post-mortem examination to be carried out to ascertain the cause of death.

Lagan’s death follows a string of death in custody cases. Just last week, a 36-year-old furniture shop worker Cheah Chin Lee died in police custody in the Northeast District police headquarters in Penang, just five hours after being arrested on suspicion of involvement in car theft.

Meanwhile 31-year-old R Gunasegaran died while in police custody on July 16, 2009.

In ruling an open verdict on his case, the Kuala Lumpur High Court however noted that all future custodial death cases be investigated by other police districts to ensure transparency in its investigations.

In 2009, 23-year-old Kugan Ananthan was also found dead in police custody, at the Taipan police station in USJ Subang Jaya, where he had been taken for questioning in relation to several car theft cases.