PM orders IGP for transparent probe into Malacca police shooting

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has demanded Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail to conduct a transparent probe into the shooting of three men in Malacca.

Buletin TV3 reported that the prime minister also asked Khalid to submit a detailed report on the incident to Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail.

Anwar said the shooting was discussed in the cabinet meeting today.

“I have instructed the IGP to carry out an investigation in a transparent manner and not to protect anyone.

“We do not protect criminals, but neither do we protect actions, including those by the police, police personnel, that run contrary to the rule of law.

“And in the near future, I have asked the IGP to present a detailed report, transparently, openly, and professionally, to the home minister,” he reportedly said, after performing Friday prayers in Cyberjaya.

Anwar stressed that while his administration does not interfere in the police’s affairs, matters that contradict proper procedures, however, must be investigated openly and transparently.

“Although we welcome the police’s firmness in acting against criminals and breaches of the law, I urge that several complaints regarding issues that conflict with established processes and procedures be investigated transparently and openly.

“For example, deaths in custody or issues of shootings. I do not interfere with how their duties are to be carried out. However, I am also concerned if certain regulations are seen as not being properly observed,” he added.

Lawyer wants cops charged with murder

Yesterday, lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan, who is representing the family members of the three deceased men, told Malaysiakini that the police officers who fatally shot the trio in Durian Tunggal last week should be charged with murder.

He refuted the police version of the event, which claimed the men had attacked the police officers with machetes and caused serious injuries to one of them.

According to media reports, a police team had shot dead three men in an oil palm plantation in Durian Tunggal, Malacca, on Nov 23.

The case also gained the attention of Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director M Kumar, who visited a corporal who sustained serious injuries at the Malacca Hospital on Nov 25.

However, families of the deceased men have since rejected the police’s account of the incident.

During a press conference on Nov 4, they cited an alleged audio recording of the incident, where the trio could be heard cooperating with the police as they were being detained.

Following this, Kumar announced that Bukit Aman would take over the case and vowed a “transparent, fair, and professional investigation”.

DAP adviser and Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng had also urged the prime minister to publicly address concerns surrounding the shooting and direct the home minister to ensure justice for the deceased’s families.

DAP lawmaker RSN Rayer, meanwhile, called on Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Law and Institutional Reform) M Kulasegaran to sink his fangs into the allegation that the police conducted an extra-judicial killing of the three men.

The Jelutong MP pressed his party colleague “to get to the bottom of this case without delay”.

Kulasegaran has urged for an inquest, stating that it would allow a coroner, as an independent party, to conduct a full examination of the shooting.

Gobind calls for action on custodial death

In a separate case, Digital Minister Gobind Singh Deo yesterday urged the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to clarify allegations that the authorities had failed to investigate the death of a police detainee nine months ago.

He was responding to a recent Malaysiakini report detailing the case of M Manisegaran, a 41-year-old lorry driver who allegedly died under suspicious circumstances after being detained at the Bandar Sunway police station in Petaling Jaya, earlier this year.

Gobind, a senior lawyer, added that deaths in custody must be investigated, as stated under Section 334 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Manisegaran’s wife, S Rajeswari, recently claimed that her deceased husband had sustained injuries to his chest, had broken teeth, and had blood in his eyes.

She alleged that the post-mortem report had offered conflicting explanations, including suggestions of a heart attack, drug use, and fluid in the lungs.

However, she said the death certificate merely stated that the cause of death was “pending further investigation”, which has made it difficult for the family to file insurance claims, as the police have yet to issue a final death certificate.

After nine months of waiting, Rajeswari appealed to Saifuddin to intervene and help determine what really happened to her husband.

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