Although 19-year-old V Vikines sustained two fatal gunshots to his chest in a shootout with the police last week, his best friend claimed that the shirt which the deceased wore bore no bullet holes.

S Simon, 19, said when he saw his friend's body at the Seremban Hospital mortuary, he saw two gunshot wounds on his chest but the shirt was unscathed.

The salesman, who was speaking at a press conference in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, claimed that the police had later refused to give him the shirt when the body was being taken away.

He also claimed that there were bruise marks on the deceased's face, legs and back.

These and other questionable circumstances have led the family of the upper six student to cast doubts on the police's version of the incident.

According to the police, Vikines ( photo ) and two others Puvaneswaran, 24, and T Kathiravan, 25, were shot dead after they ignored orders to surrender and opened fire on police personnel in Nilai last Friday.

The trio, who hailed from Klang, were said to be responsible for a spate of armed robberies but Vikines' family claimed that the youth was nothing more than an innocent schoolboy.

No criminal records

"Where are the witnesses? Where are the police cars that should be riddled with shots? Where are the wounded policemen?" asked his distraught father G Vesvanathan at yesterday's press conference.

He also accused Federal CID director Salleh Mat Som of being a 'liar' for claiming that his son was a "marksman and weapons expert".

Vikines' uncle Silva Govindasamy questioned the police's claim that his nephew was involved in about 20 criminal cases.

"If he was a suspect in so many cases, why didn't the police approach the school or family? The boy has never been arrested, never harassed, he doesn't even have a (criminal) record!"

Silva said the police also admitted that the deceased had not flouted the law before and this contradicted their claim of him being an 'armed and dangerous criminal'.

Meanwhile, the family also alleged that the police instructed the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang not to conduct a second post-mortem on Vikines' body.

"Upon requesting the hospital to conduct a second post-mortem, the family was informed that the hospital had received instructions from the police not to take in the body.

"We have a right to know what happened. As it happens, none from the police authorities have even contacted us to inform us anything," said another relative, who declined to be named.

Letter to DPM

The family has also sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi urging him to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

Also present at the press conference organised by Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia's (Prim) was its pro-tem secretary-general and lawyer P Uthayakumar who wanted a Royal Commission of Inquiry to be formed.

He also demanded that the alleged guns, revolvers and bullets seized from the trio be examined by forensics experts to determine if the victims had really discharged them as claimed.

"We call upon the home minister to instruct the police to submit the investigation papers on this case to the Attorney-General within seven days... with the view that the AG call for an urgent inquest," he said in the letter to the home minister.

Vikines' father ( right ) and his friend Simon later lodged two reports with the Brickfields district police headquarters alleging foul play on the police's part.

Previously the family had also lodged a report at the Klang police station on Oct 12 against the police for suppressing evidence and preventing the second post mortem.

Officials from the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters were not available for comment.