The Attorney-General's Chambers has finally consented to hold an inquest into the fatal shooting of 23-year-old caddy P Nagendren last Jan 13.

The lawyer representing Nagendren's family, P Uthayakumar told malaysiakini that he just received a fax from a senior officer at the AG's Chambers Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria today informing him of the latest development.

"The officer informed that any enquiries regarding the inquest can be forwarded to senior investigative officer ASP Omar Hassan from the Ampang Jaya district police headquarters," he said.

"We welcome the decision to hold the inquest. We are glad that things are going in the right direction. We hope to hold a watching brief on behalf of the family during the inquest," he added.

Uthayakumar said he has informed Nagendren's family who is relieved that a positive step will finally be taken to get to the truth behind the fatal shooting.

"All they (the family) want is the truth. They want to know what happened that had led the police to shoot the deceased. They want to know why the body of the deceased was covered with bruises and all his fingernails missing. Was he tortured?

"They have suffered so much from the death, especially the deceased's young wife who was so traumatised that she gave birth to a still-born baby," he added.

Orders to stop ignored

News reports said the police had spotted the five men 'behaving suspiciously' and ordered them to pull over but the driver sped off and a chase ensued.

The patrol car was then said to have overtook the one-tonne lorry and once again, orders to stop went unheeded, leading the police personnel to fire six shots.

Nagendran, who worked as a caddy, died on the spot while the rest were arrested. The police also said they had found a parang, knives and metal roads in the vehicle.

However, his 19-year-old wife C Jaya Malar claimed that this version was a fabrication , saying that her husband was murdered. She lodged a police report on Jan 16.

In February, the Indian Consultative Council (ICC) held a demonstration outside the Ampang Jaya police station after authorities ignored calls to investigate the shooting incident.

A memorandum from a coalition of opposition and NGO groups was also submitted to Inspector-General of Police Mohd Bakri Omar demanding a thorough probe into the case.