The Kuala Lumpur High Court today acquitted four police officers of the charge of murdering detainee N Dharmendran at the KL police lock-up.
 
The court's judge Kamardin Hashim found there was no prima facie case against the four.

They are Inspector S Hare Krishnan, 41, from Sungai Petani Kedah, Sergeant Jaffri Jaafar, 45, Corporal Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 46, and Corporal Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 33.

They were charged with committing the offence at the D9 investigation office, 7th floor, Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters on Jalan Hang Tuah here between 12.20pm and 2.50pm on May 21, 2013.
 
The post-mortem found that Dharmendran had staples on his ear lobes and ankle, sparking widespread outcry.

A total of 58 witnesses were called by the prosecution.

Justice Kamardin said it was unsafe to rely on circumstantial evidence to call all four policemen to enter their defence.

He said even Inspector Hare Krishnan was not at the scene.

Justice Kamardin said as they were jointly charged with murder, the prosecution had not proven they had the joint intention or no actus rea (ill intent) of murdering Dharmendran.

The court further rued there was no substantial evidence nor proof all four accused had attacked Dharmendran.  

‘Injuries four days old’

The judge also said the pathologist also found the injuries on Dharmendran were three to four days' old, which could have led to his death.

“This was however, inconsistent with the time frame in the murder charge, and this was inconsistent with the charge.”

All four of them were charged with murder at the Serious Crimes Division (D9) interrogation room, Level 7, at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters in Jalan Hang Tuah between 12.20pm and 2.50pm on May 21 last year.

Dharmendran’s case caught huge attention following his death after he was arrested for allegedly being involved in a fight on May 11, but died 10 days later.

His death was listed as a result of blunt force trauma following repeated beatings he suffered while under remand, and there were also rotan marks on his back.

Following the acquittal of the four policemen, their family members who were in court clapped after the verdict.

Three uniformed policemen carrying sub-machine guns were seen outside the court room.

Lawyer M Athimulan appeared for Hare Krishnan, Hazman Ahmad for Jaffri, Baljit Singh Sidhu for Mohd Nahar, and Ariff Azami Hussein represented Mohd Haswadi.

DPP Nordin Ismail appeared for the prosecution.