The MIC today gave its backing to the A Kugan family's call for an independent probe into the forklift driver's death while in police custody two years ago, after the police constable accused of causing his death was set free this morning.

In a strongly-worded statement, party youth chief T Mohan said the severity of Kugan's injuries called for a royal commission of inquiry to be established.

NONE "I have seen his bodily injuries first hand at Serdang Hospital mortuary. Blood was oozing out of his mouth when his body was turned around for inspection.

"There were various injuries, cuts and bruises all over his body, from head to toe," Mohan ( left ) said.

He added that despite a lengthy trial, the question of how the severe injuries were inflicted remained a mystery, with the only certainty being that the police were responsible for it.

"Since Kugan died in police custody, the police force is solely responsible for this... (yet) the murderer roams free until today," he said.

Mohan also renewed the call for the setting up of the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC), saying such a body would be able to investigate the large number of complaints of "mistreatment" reported by police detainees.

Likewise, party information chief S Murugessan said the fact that so few police offices have been booked despite an "alarming" number of deaths in their custody was proof of a flawed system.

"In circumstances where investigators are from the same body under whose watch a death occurred, the issues of impartiality and transparency arise," he said in a press statement.

"The number of convictions secured in death under police custody cases speaks volumes of the ineffectiveness of the current system."

Severe injuries on the body

This morning, police constable V Navindran, 28, was acquitted on two counts of causing grievous hurt to Kugan, 22, while he was in custody at the Taipan police station interrogation room in Subang Jaya on Jan 19, 2009.

The high profile case stirred a huge public outcry as a result of the severity of the injuries Kugan sustained while detained for five days on suspicion of car theft.

sk devamany The injuries were discovered after a second post-mortem was conducted, upon the insistence of the family and help from two deputy ministers in the Prime Minister's Department, K Devamany ( right ) and T Murugiah.

Devamany and Murugiah were questioned by police after they, along with a crowd of protesters, barged into the Serdang Hospital mortuary after the second post-mortem to look at the injuries on the body.

The second post-mortem revealed that Kugan sustained burns, haemorrhaging in his neck, heart and spleen, besides 40 external injuries. The cause of death was kidney failure as a result of the beatings while in custody.

The first post-mortem finding said he died from pulmonary edema, but the cause of the edema was "unknown".