The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) will launch a probe into the death of R Sundara Raju, the 32-year-old lorry driver who died after he was allegedly beaten by nine other detainees in the Klang police district headquarters lock-up.

Suhakam commissioner Prof Hamdan Adnan said that he would be visiting the Klang lock-up tomorrow to begin investigation into the death, which has been clouded by suspicions of police negligence and brutality.

He said he would also speak to the doctors who performed two postmortems on the deceased.

Sundara Raju died at Klang's Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital on Monday where doctors performed the first postmortem. The second postmortem was done at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre.

"If there was a policeman on guard 24 hours at the lock-up, then the beating would not have happened, because if there was a commotion, the policeman would surely have known.

"The allegation is that the other detainees were the ones who beat him up, so we need to conduct a thorough investigation first," he said.

Police's responsibility

Hamdan stressed that the police had to take responsibility for the well-being of individuals in their custody.

"The onus is on the police. They must guarantee the safety of detainees. In fact, didn't the inspector-general of police (IGP) once say that the safest place in Malaysia is a police lock-up?" he asked.

He said the high rate of deaths of detainees in custody was "alarming" and should be taken seriously.

Last month, Deputy Home Minister Chor Chee Heung told Parliament that 34 people had died while under police custody since 2000 six in 2000, 10 last year and 18 so far this year.

Hamdan called on the police to set up a commission that would include members from other professional bodies such as Suhakam and the Malaysian Medical Association.

He said it was "obvious" that the lock-up was overcrowded, and it was necessary for the police to ensure the safety of the detainees because overcrowded cells inevitably lead to a greater risk of violence.

Slow reaction

Hamdan also criticised the slow reaction by the law to deaths in custody, saying that they were "always belated".

"When someone gets killed, then they install a closed-circuit television (CCTV)" he said.

He was referring to Inspector-General of Police Norian Mai's plan to install CCTVs in lock-ups to prevent such deaths in future.

Norian Mai had said there was no evidence of police negligence or brutality after visiting the Klang lock-up and being briefed by top policemen yesterday.

He was reported as saying in The Malay Mail that Sundara Raju's death could have been caused by the fatal beatings by fellow detainees who would be charged in court within the next two to three days.

There has been a discrepancy in the number of men who have beaten up Sundara Raju. Earlier reports said five men were involved but reports in today's papers said nine men were responsible.

Klang police district chief A Paramasivam confirmed that nine men were being investigated but declined to elaborate. He said the police probe by Klang district headquarters is expected to finish soon.

Police station stop

Sundara Raju's funeral was held this morning at his elder brother's house in Taman Sentosa Perdana, Klang. The procession included a brief stop in front of the Klang police district headquarters.

Keadilan Klang division chief P Krishnasamy said Sundara Raju's eldest brother, R Naryanan, made allegations of police brutality in a harsh manner against an ASP Shamsuddin who had been called out to represent the police.

The deceased's family has expressed their dissatisfaction with the first post-mortem conducted at Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, which put the cause of death as "blunt force trauma".

The second postmortem was conducted yesterday evening at Universiti Malaya Medical Centre at the request of the family as well a host of politicians and NGO leaders, including leaders from Keadilan, the Democratic Action Party, Malaysian Indian Congress and the Seremban Action Team. The results will be available in a few days.