Cops not questioned, Malacca shooting probe at risk: Lawyers

Lawyers for the families of three men killed in a police shooting in Malacca have called out the authorities over their failure to question the alleged perpetrators from within their own ranks.

In a statement, lawyers Rajesh Nagarajan and Sachpreetraj Singh said the police’s latest update confirmed that investigators have so far only recorded statements from three family members and four medical officers, which amounted to a damning self-indictment.

“This omission is not a technical oversight; it is a structural failure that compromises the integrity of the entire investigative process.

“In any lawful use-of-force investigation, the first and most critical step is to record statements from the officers who discharged their weapons,” they said in response to a statement by Bukit Aman’s Criminal Investigation Department director, M Kumar.

In a statement last night, Kumar said the victims’ family members were at Bukit Aman at 10.30am.

He said they had their statements taken, and a phone believed to have an audio recording allegedly linked to the case was given to the police for further investigation.

The lawyers said the family members gave their statements under Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code to assist in the investigation, more than a week after police reports were lodged.

Alleged audio contradicts official narrative

On Nov 24, the police shot and killed the men, aged between 24 and 29, after one of them allegedly used a machete to attack a police officer in an oil palm plantation in Durian Tunggal.

Malacca police chief Dzulkhairi Mukhtar defended his team’s actions, alleging that the incident caused a corporal, in his early 30s, to suffer severe injuries to his left arm.

However, the family’s lawyers rejected the police’s version of events.

Since then, the lawyers said a refusal or failure to question the alleged shooters raised serious concerns of evidence contamination, narrative coordination, institutional bias, and systemic obstruction of justice.

“To describe such an investigation as ‘adil’ (just), ‘profesional’, ‘telus’ (transparent), or ‘berintegriti’ is an affront to the rule of law,” they stressed, in reference to the police’s official motto.

The duo also urged the police to take immediate steps, including urgently recording statements from all officers involved, publicly disclosing the chain of command and operational justification, and ensuring independent oversight to prevent institutional whitewashing.

“Until these minimum standards are met, this investigation cannot be considered credible, legitimate, or lawful,” they said.

In a related development, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail assured that the investigation of the shooting will be done according to the legal process, and the investigation team will take in all relevant evidence.

“Bukit Aman has established a special committee, as announced by Kumar.

“The committee will record statements, including from the family member who spoke to the lawyers about the existence of an audio (recording), and so on,” Bernama quoted him as saying after the Home Ministry’s monthly assembly in Putrajaya today.

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