A youth has lodged a report against the Subang Jaya police for allegedly beating his 19-year-old cousin while the latter was in custody o­n Wednesday.

K Vikneswaran, 20, made the report last night at the Hospital Universiti Malaya police booth, claiming that the police had arrested his cousin P Lingeswaran with another 19-year-old, P Poobalan, and assaulted them while they were detained at the Subang Jaya station.

According to the report, the duo was arrested late Wednesday night and blind-folded at the police station before they were beaten with rubber hoses.

"I saw that Poobalan had red bruises of about 6-inches long o­n his back and his right hand. There were also swellings o­n his head, feet and the soles of his feet. As for Lingeswaran, there were (similar) bruises o­n both his shoulders," said Vikneswaran in the report.

The report added that the two youths were subsequently released by the Petaling Jaya magistrate's court but were rearrested the same day by the Subang Jaya police while they were seeking medical attention.

Hospital called police

Contacted later, human rights lawyer P Uthayakumar said the two were rearrested while they were seeking medical treatment for their injuries at Universiti hospital.

Uthayakumar said he offered to represent the Lingeswaran and Poobalan when he came across their case at the PJ court yesterday morning.

"I went to the PJ court for another matter but I met with some people who told me that they were beaten. I was upset by what had happened so I volunteered to represent them.

"The magistrate recorded their statements (on their injuries) and ordered for them to be released immediately," he said.

The lawyer added that he had proposed for the two youths to seek medical treatment at the government hospital instead of a private hospital as it would be more credible should they seek to bring a case against the police later.

Instead, Uthayakumar said, the hospital staff notified the police who came and removed the two back to the Subang Jaya police at about 10.30pm yesterday.

"I was more upset after I heard this because I had recommended for them to be treated in a government hospital," he said.

Uthayakumar said he was assisting Lingeswaran's family members in preparing a police report against the incident at the hospital when the police suddenly brought the two youths back to the hospital's police booth and released them at about 2am today.

Police denial

When asked, Uthayakumar said the two did not know why the police arrested them in the first place.

"Twelve policemen in civilian clothes went to arrest them. It was not even certain if they were police officers."

Contacted later, a Subang Jaya police officer said that there were no records that the two youths were held during the past two days at the station.

"I have no record of Lingeswaran," said the officer who declined to be named.

Asked about the allegations of police beatings, the officer said that the person-in-charge at the station was unavailable for comment.

This case is the latest in a series of complaints against the police for their treatment of detainees.

On Feb 18, Uthayakumar filed a civil suit against the government, the police and the Attorney-General's Chambers for wrongfully arresting him o­n two occasions.

The lawyer was charged with allegedly threatening the police while he dealt with them in several cases involving deaths in police custody. He has since been released o­n bail.

The outspoken lawyer and pro tem secretary-general of the Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim) has been a strong advocate against ill-treatment of detainees by the police.

His work with the party's police watch and human rights committee has gained increasing recognition for their efforts in seeking justice for victims of police brutality.

Last year, the committee won the human rights prize awarded by human rights organisation Suaram.