The Kuala Lumpur Sessions Court was told police generally used water canons and tear gas to disperse the crowd during a demonstration organised by the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) on Nov 25, 2007.

However, Acryl Sani, former deputy director of the Criminal Investigation Department, did not rule out that truncheons might have been used by Federal Reserve Unit personnel, which could have resulted in injuries to some of the demonstrators.

"We monitored live feeds received from our police cameramen on the ground directly at Bukit Aman (federal police headquarters) but the visuals did not indicate truncheons were used against the demonstrators," he said.

Cross-examined by lawyer P Uthayakumar whether he was aware that a demonstrator suffered a heart attack due inhaling too much tear gas and later died at the Ampang Hospital, Acryl said police never received any such report.

He told the court he could not verify the authenticity of a burial certificate alleged by Uthayakumar to belong to a 62-year-old man identified as Murugiah Ratnam as it was a photocopy and needed to check with the Ampang police station.

Acryl, who is currently attached to Bukit Aman as deputy management director, disagreed with Uthayakumar's suggestion that police had covered up the death.

"I had checked with the Dang Wangi police station after a photograph of a blood-stained Indian man, allegedly killed in Lebuh Ampang, was posted on the "Police Watch Malaysia" website, but the station confirmed that did not receive such a report," he added.

Dispute over the numbers at the rally

He also disagreed with Uthayakumar that more than 100,000 people took part in the demonstration and added that the police's estimation was between 10,000 to 30,000 people.

On Dec 11, 2007, Uthayakumar, 47, had pleaded not guilty in the same court to publishing a seditious letter on the "Police Watch Malaysia" website.

The charge under Section 4(1)(c) of the Sedition Act 1948 carries a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or imprisonment up to three years, or both, on conviction.

Two days later, Uthayakumar was detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) following his involvement in street demonstrations here on Nov 25 and allegedly making seditious remarks against the government.

Acryl also told the court that his department had several meetings prior to the demonstration to discuss strategy how to handle the situation on the ground.

Questioned further by Uthayakumar, the senior police officer agreed that after the "Ops Padam Hindraf" operation to tackle the demonstration, police had recommended to the Home Ministry to ban the illegal movement.

"After the demonstration, we also had a meeting with the Special Branch on Dec 1, 2007, which later led to the arrest of Uthayakumar and others under the ISA," added Arcyl.

The hearing before Judge Sabariah Othman continues tomorrow.

- Bernama