The High Court in Kuala Lumpur today acquitted and discharged four policemen who were accused of murdering N Dharmendran while in custody in 2013.

Justice Kamardin Hashim delivered the judgment to a packed court room.

In his ruling, Kamardin said it was found that the prosecution had failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt against the four accused.

"All the accused have chosen to defend themselves and gave sworn statements from the dock.

"They also called witnesses to testify during the hearing," said Kamardin, who cited no connection between Dharmendran and two of the accused as being one of the grounds for defence.

Inspector S Hare Krishnan, 42, Sergeant Jaffri Jaafar, 46, Corporal Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 47, and Corporal Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 34, were accused of killing Dharmendran at the D9 interrogation room on Level 7 of the Kuala Lumpur Police Contingent headquarters in Jalan Hang Tuah between May 18 and 21, 2013.

Suhaimi Ibrahim appeared for the prosecution.

Upon hearing the judgment, family members of the accused were seen to be in tears as they hugged each other, grateful for the outcome.

Dharmendran, who was detained for attempted murder, complained of chest pains and collapsed at around 4.25pm on May 21, 2013 while in the police lock-up.

Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo appeared for Hare Krishnan while Baljit Singh Sidhu represented the three other accused.

When met later, Gobind said: "The judge accepted that this is not a case in which the accused raised a bare denial.

"He accepted they had a valid defence and that the case of the prosecution rested on circumstantial evidence," he said.

Gobind said the test in such cases would be that the prosecution must prove the evidence pointed irresistibly to the guilt of the accused.

"In this case, he (Kamardin) held that there were doubts. So he ruled the prosecution failed to prove reasonable doubt," he explained.

On Dec 12, 2014, Kamardin acquitted the four policemen from the murder charge at the end of the prosecution case without calling for their defence.

However, on Feb 26 this year, the Appeals Court overturned the High Court's acquittal of the policemen over Dharmendran's murder and ordered them to enter their defence.

On April 28, 2016, the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) set up to investigate Dharmendran's death found that he had died due to the police's use of physical force.

Disappointed and saddened

Meanwhile PKR lawmaker N Surendran said Dharmendran's family wanted an explanation from the IGP and the attorney-general on the failure to secure a conviction.

"The family also want to know the immediate steps that they (the authorities) will now take in the wake of this verdict," he said in a statement today.

Surendran, who is also the lawyer for Dharmendran, claimed his clients were disappointed and saddened by this verdict.

"Despite the overwhelming evidence of police involvement in the death, not a single police officer has been found guilty of this shocking crime," he slammed.

"If it is the verdict of the court that these four policemen did not kill Dharmendran, then who did?" he questioned.

"The family will continue to seek justice for the man who was a loving husband and father," he stressed.