The Kuala Lumpur coroner's court today allowed the family of missing police detainee G Francis Udayappan to access copies of the post-mortem and DNA reports - documents vital in ascertaining the contention over his disappearance and alleged death.

Magistrate Nazran Mohd Sham, acting as coroner, ordered the prosecution to hand over the two reports to the family's lawyer, M Puravalen, as soon as possible.

Puravalen, who has been holding a watching brief for Francis' mother G Sara Lily, said he had been continuously denied access to copies of the reports despite numerous verbal requests over the past six weeks.

Concurring with the lawyer that the reports were not privileged documents as contended by the prosecution, Nazran affirmed that they would also not be prejudicial to the inquest proceedings.

He agreed with the argument that, if the documents were available to the family, it would help during the questioning of witnesses.

"As a coroner vested with inquisitorial powers, I agree that the documents are important to the family and also to dispose of this case expeditiously" said Nazran.

Deputy Public Prosecutor Ishak Mohd Yusoff, in rebutting Puravalen, said that the documents were subject to the rules of privilege, which prohibit accessibility, although he too acknowledged their importance to the family.

"(Puravalen) will have access to them when both are tendered in as exhibits later. Until then, the rules of privilege applies strictly," he said.

"There is no doubt that both documents are vital to this case, but I'm limited by the rules of privilege under the Criminal Procedure Code."

Ishak argued that the exemption to the rule applied only when someone is wrongfully confined.

He later said copies would be provided to the family tomorrow, together with other related documents.

'Rescue efforts'

Earlier, Puravalen had told the court that the reports were vital in ascertaining the cause of Francis' disappearance and alleged death and would lead to the identification of a highly-decomposed body found in the Klang river in May.

"The post-mortem report is important to determine the cause of death or any injuries sustained by Francis, while the DNA report would assist the family in getting expert advice," he said.

The inquest was ordered to clear confusion over the identity of the body, which remains unclaimed at the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre. Francis has been classified as missing.

Today, the prosecution's second witness Sjn Chan Kim Chai from the Brickfields district police headquarters related how he chased Francis when he 'escaped' from custody by jumping from the first floor of the block while his statement was being recorded on April 16.

"I ran behind the building and when I reached the end of it, I saw the suspect (Francis) outside the fencing. I crawled through a hole in the fence but my pants got snared in the barbed wire," he said.

He said he continued the chase after about 10-15 seconds, but could no longer see the suspect.

"I tried looking in some bushes 150 metres away but didn't find anything," he said, adding that he suffered injuries on his right thigh where his jeans was torn by the barbed wire.

Chan said that on his way back to the station, he saw a colleague standing by the river and looking into it.

"I saw the suspect in the middle of the river, so I called for immediate back-up using my mobile phone and ran to assist the other officer who was following the suspect from the (bank) of the river.

"He asked for a rope to get the suspect out of the river. I didn't notice who handed him the rope. I saw him throwing the rope to wards the suspect but he (Francis) did not take it," he said, adding that he was unsure as to how many attempts were made with the rope.

Under the current

Continuing, Chan said he saw another police officer from the Jalan Travers station when he got further down the river.

"(The first officer) then tied the rope around the waist of the second with the intention of jumping into the river to save the suspect but before he could do so, the suspect, who was floating along with the current, had gone under and did not resurface."

After about 20 minutes into the search, he said it started raining very heavily and they returned to the station and reported to district police chief Zulhasnan Najib Baharuddin ( photo ).

"He (Zulhasnan) told me to get medical treatment for my thigh injury and sprained ankle at the Universiti Hospital. Later at about 10pm, I lodged a report on the incident," said Chan, who was asked to produce the keys to Francis' handcuffs.

Chan also was unsure if the handcuffs were still on Francis, who he said was wearing a 'KL Police Lock-up' singlet, knee-length shorts and a pair of slippers during the recording of the statement.

"As soon as I unlocked the cuffs on his right hand, he pushed me and fled," he said.

He also described the tattoos on Francis' upper arm as that of a ying-yang symbol on the upper arm of his left hand and the stick-figure of The Saint on his right.

The inquest continues tomorrow afternoon.