COMMENT | The death of S Balamurugan in police custody on Feb 8 brings us face-to-face with a painful, perennial problem.

Immediately re-arresting an individual is an insidious tactic used by the police to detain individuals whom, by right, should not be detained any longer.

Basically, as soon as the individual is ordered to be released, the police instantly arrest him once again, in connection to a different case.

So, let’s say Ah Chong is arrested today on suspicion of being involved in the theft of a car last week. The magistrate does not believe that a remand is warranted, and orders that Ah Chong be released. The police then subsequently and immediately re-arrest Ah Chong, for, say, the case of a motorbike that was stolen one month ago.

This revolving door is clearly an abuse of power. If the police genuinely believed Ah Chong to be guilty of both crimes, they should have brought up both, with attending evidence and reasonable cause, during the first remand hearing...