Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) chairperson Yaacob Md Sam has chastised the investigating officer in S Balamurugan's death-in-custody case for failing to declare a conflict of interest to his superiors.

This came after it surfaced during an EAIC public inquiry that prior to Balamurugan’s death, ASP Muhammad Khuzairi Abd Wahab had told the North Klang police Criminal Investigation Department’s WhatsApp group that Balamurugan is a mastermind with several cases linked to him, and this needs to be checked.

Yaacob said this contributed to a delay in Balamurugan's release, adding that he should have informed the then North Klang police chief SAC Yusoff Mamat when Yusoff appointed him to probe Balamurugan’s sudden death report.

“Is that not a direct involvement in Balamurugan’s case? Didn’t you think of informing the OCPD (Yusoff)?

“Did you know that he was not aware of your involvement to this date?” Yaacob asked.

He said the case should have been assigned to an independent investigator to preserve the integrity of the probe, even if it means drawing investigators from a different police district or even Bukit Aman itself.

Khuzairi kept mum while Yaacob questioned him on his failure to disclose the conflict of interest.

Later when asked by Bar Council representative R Sivaraj whether if he thought the appointment was appropriate, Khuzairi said he thought it was wrong.

However, he said he was merely following orders.

On a related matter, Khuzairi was also chastised for not correcting an error in the coroner’s report, which named Ahmad Azhari Abdul Hamid as the deceased instead of Balamurugan.

Ahmad Azhari is the coroner in Balamurugan’s case.

When Yaacob asked if the error can be corrected, Khuzairi answered in the affirmative.

Khuzairi is the 47th and last witness in the EAIC public hearing. Interested parties have until Aug 4 to file written submissions on the case to the commission.

When asked why there are fewer witnesses than the 55 that EAIC said it would call, Yaacob said the figure was only an estimate.

“We don’t have to call everyone only to repeat the same evidence. Witnesses are counted by the quality of his or her evidence, not by numbers or quantity,” he said.

Asked when will EAIC’s report of the hearing be ready, Yaacob told reporters that the commission would need “reasonable time” to reach its findings and prepare its report.

“There are bound to be various discrepancies in the witnesses’ testimony due to their memory or recollection of things that has happened.

“It is the works of the adjudicator to sieve all the evidence and to make a proper finding,” he added.

Also on the witness stand today is Yusoff, who is now with Bukit Aman’s Internal Security and Public Order Department.

Yusoff said he was not informed of Balamurugan’s case apart from the daily morning briefings he received, which was that Balamurugan had been arrested.

His next report on the case was that he had already passed away.

He also said that he was not privy to the conversations occurring in the North Klang CID’s WhatsApp group because he was not in the group.

Balamurugan was arrested and allegedly beaten at the Bandar Batu Klang police station on Feb 6, before he was brought to the Shah Alam centralised lockup facility for a few hours, and then sent to a remand hearing at the Klang magistrate's court in the morning.

The magistrate ordered for Balamurugan’s release, but he was instead held at the North Klang police district headquarters and was found dead in the wee hours of Feb 8.

The police had launched two investigations since: One on Balamurugan's sudden death, and one under Section 345 of the Penal Code for wrongful detention of a person for whom the court has ordered for his freedom.

Medical attention

Meanwhile, Yusoff also confirmed that several allegations that surfaced during the hearings constitute a breach of his orders.

This includes not sending an injured person to seek medical attention.

He said although re-arresting Balamurugan is the right decision in view of other cases implicating him, he should have been sent to the hospital first.

He also explained that the papers for Balamurugan’s re-arrest were never finished since he died before it was ready.

As for Insp Mohd Noor Husri Johari who was supposed to be heading the investigation on Balamurugan for alleged robbery, Yusoff said he was not aware that the investigating officer was out of town and he should have been informed of this.

Husri had previously told the inquiry that he had sent his parents to the National Heart Institute on the morning of Feb 7, and delegated the task of applying for a remand order on Balamurugan and several others to Sgt Muhammad Nabil Abd Manaf.

He said he was not aware of the magistrate's order for Balamurugan to be brought to hospital, nor did Nabil told him of this.

He had said Nabil merely told him that the magistrate rejected the remand application, and Nabil had corroborated the testimony at the hearing.