The Police Watch and Human Rights Committee (PWHRC) was responding to a news report that a man believed to be involved in an attempted robbery was gunned down by the police following a car chase along the North South Expressway on Monday.

"We are of the humble opinion that there was no reason to shoot and kill a 'fleeing robber'. He should have instead been captured alive and brought to justice.

"It is the time honoured principle of law that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law," said the committee's legal adviser P Uthayakumar in a letter to Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail.

He claimed that once again, the police have taken the law into their own hands and acted as judge, jury and executioner.

Armed with pistol

According to the New Straits Times , the dead 'robber' and four accomplices - all of whom believed to be foreigners - had earlier attempted to rob a jewellery shop in Bidor, Perak

However, an employee had activated the security alarm, forcing them to flee in a Proton Wira.

Perak CID chief A Paramasivam said the men, armed with a pistol and parang, made a U-turn when they spotted a police roadblock on the old trunk road to Slim River and entered the expressway.

Following a chase, the police shot at the car three times and brought it to a halt. However, the other suspects managed to escape on foot into a nearby oil plantation.

A manhunt involving 100 police personnel had been launched to track down the suspects.

IPCMC needed

Meanwhile, Uthayakumar claimed that with the robber killed and his accomplices missing, the truth might never surface.

In view of this, he said the police must provide a full report on the incident and explain why the suspect could not be captured alive.

He reiterated the importance of setting up the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to deal with such matters.

While Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had initially agreed to the establishment of the IPCMC, it met stiff resistance from the police and several ruling politicians.

Detractors had argued against the need for an external monitoring agency but those who support the proposal, claim that it is only way to keep the 'trigger happy and abusive' Malaysian police in check.

Copies of Uthayakumar's letter was also sent to Abdullah, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz, Inspector-General of Police Mohd Bakri Omar and Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang.