The death of a youth in police custody and the torture of another in a police lock-up in recent weeks has shocked Malaysians and revived calls for an oversight body proposed in 2006 by a royal commission but unimplemented because of opposition from senior officers in the command.

Kugan Ananthan, 22, died on Jan 20, five days after he was detained at the Taipan police station in Subang Jaya, Selangor.