The top brass of the police force must be accountable for the actions of their subordinates, says DAP lawmaker Gobind Singh Deo.

To do this, he said, laws must be enacted in order to make officers in charge of police stations and investigating officers criminally liable for hurt caused and deaths in their custody.

"We seem to have officers who - despite all else - just do not have the sense or conscience to deal with people in their custody, humanely.

"We must instil within them the fear of stern punishment and civil liability, in the event that incidents like these occur under their watch," Gobind ( right ) said in a statement today.

He added that the government and police officers involved should also be automatically liable for civil actions in injuries and deaths in custody, subject to their ability to prove that they had taken all reasonable steps to ensure the safety of detainees.

Last week, the coroner's court under sessions court judge Ahmad Bache found the police to have acted "unlawfully, negligently and inhumanely" in not giving medicines and medical attention to P Chandran while he was in police detention, resulting in his death.

'Most damning indictment'

"This is a most damning indictment against the police, something which both the inspector-general of police and Home Ministry should be ashamed of," said Gobind, who is a lawyer.

He pointed out that custodial deaths have remained persistent despite efforts to stop them - such as the installation of CCTV in police stations, and the calls for an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), which have fallen on deaf ears.

Gobind stressed that Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Khalid Abu Bakar ( left ) should take responsibility, by supporting his proposal for the government and the police to be held accountable for such incidents.

"I call upon the IGP to state if he is prepared to support such a proposal.

"If he isn't, I call upon him to state what steps will be taken in order to ensure that we stop further deaths in police custody," said Gobind.