Johor police today denied claims of foul play in the death of S Shahshikumar, insisting that the prisoner had hanged himself to death.

"No foul play, he hanged himself in the prison cell," Johor police chief Rusli Ahmad told Malaysiakini today when contacted.

Rusli said this was based on a post-mortem conducted on 22-year-old Shahshikumar, whose death was only notified to his family a day after his death last Friday.

"The body was post-mortemed on May 22. Police have submitted the investigation papers to the deputy public prosecutor for further action," added Rusli.

He said the case has been classified as "sudden death".

On Wednesday, Hindraf highlighted the plight of Shashikumar's grandmother, Sushilarani, who demanded answers over her grandson's death in Kluang prison.

Hindraf legal counsel S Karthig had called for a criminal investigation, insisting that Shahshikumar couldn't have hanged himself with his trousers as they were too short.

10-year jail sentence

Karthig had said Shahshikumar was serving a 10-year jail sentence for stealing rice and sardine.

Hindraf had come to Sushilarani's aid as she is illiterate and came from a poor family.

According to the Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), there were a total of 242 deaths in police custody between 2000 and 2014.

Of the 242, police have only admitted responsibility for the death in two cases.

In contrast, 231 people have died in prison within 10 years from 2002, according to Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.