Detainee's death: 11 cops removed

Police have removed 11 constables and lance corporals from the Subang Taipan police station where the case of A Kugan, a detainee who died in their custody was reclassified as murder yesterday.

According to the New Straits Times, Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said the policemen were currently at the contingent headquarters in Petaling Jaya on desk duty.

"They are here to speed up the investigation. We expect to complete the investigations within three days.

"Police are still recording and compiling statements. Once the investigations are completed, we will decide on the next course of action," he said.

Yesterday, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail classified the death of the 22-year-old police detainee as murder and it was learnt that investigations were already underway.

In Kuching yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan said an in-depth investigation would be carried out.

He said this was despite the initial post-mortem which indicated that Kugan had died of pulmonary edema or fluid accumulation in the lungs.

Musa, however, condemned the actions of a mob which forced its way into the Serdang Hospital mortuary on Tuesday night, evicted the hospital staff and locked themselves in for two hours.

They were believed to have taken pictures of Kugan's body, which they claimed had bruises all over.

"The mob incident shouldn't have happened in the first place.

"The group should not have obstructed the medical team from performing their duties that night," said Musa after chairing the 1st Tripartite meeting between the police chiefs of Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei yesterday.

Deputy ministers to cooperate

Police have also contacted the two deputy ministers, T Murugiah and SK Devamany, both with in Prime Minister's Department, to have their statements recorded.

Both were said to have been present during the mortuary incident.

In Kuala Lumpur, Devamany, while saying he would co-operate with the police, added: "The reclassification of the case as murder is good. I don't regret going there (mortuary). The rakyat needed us (Murugiah and him).

"After all, as an MIC central working committee member and as a deputy minister, this is my job...to serve the rakyat and to serve the Indian community when they needed help.

"If there is no foul play, then no one should be afraid. Let the law prevail. For now, I can see that with the murder charges, justice has prevailed," he said

Police have also identified most of the 50 people in the mob at the mortuary.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam) welcomed Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail's instruction to the police to investigate Kugan's death.

Suhakam chairman, Abu Talib Othman, said probing the death was the "right thing to do".

"Let the police gather evidence so that the attorney-general can act without fear or favour and for the next course of action to be taken," he said.

Bar: Don't focus on mortuary incident

The Bar Council, meanwhile, hoped the authorities' attention would not be focused on the incident at the mortuary while investigating Kugan's death.

Its president, S Ambiga, said the people's reaction only reflected their feelings of outrage over the death.

"We trust that undue attention will not be given to the incident at the mortuary. It reflected the reactions of persons who were understandably outraged and emotional about Kugan's sudden and unexplained death.

"This view prevails because none of the perpetrators of similar acts in the past have been brought to book," she said.

Ambiga addded that this incident once again prompts the setting up of an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission.

"We also call on the authorities to expedite the ongoing inquests into other custodial deaths," she said.

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