Cops' excessive use of force caused death: EAIC
Published on: Friday, April 29, 2016
Putra Jaya: The Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) on Thursday announced it found that N. Dharmendran died in police custody on May 21, 2013, due to the use of physical force by the police. EAIC Chairman Datuk Yaacob Md Sam said the commission recommended disciplinary action and criminal charges against the police personnel. He said the post-mortem report of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital Forensic Department on May 22, 2013, stated "diffuse soft tissue injuries due to multiple blunt force trauma" as the cause of death.
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The report also showed that Dharmendran suffered 52 bruises on his body while in the custody of the police, he said. "The bruises are believed to have been sustained from the use of blunt force that caused massive blood loss leading to hypovolemic shock. Two staples were found embedded on the deceased's ears, one on the right ear and the other on the left, that had left puncture wounds on both ears," he told a press conference at the EAIC headquarters here. Yaacob said the forensic expert confirmed that the staples were stapled on Dharmendran's ears while he was still alive and estimated to be less than two to three days before the date of the autopsy.The commission also found that the policemen and officers involved had breached Section A 118 of Paragraph 33 of the Inspector-General of Police's Standing Order (PTKPN) which prohibited any use of violence on a detainee during interrogation.
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He said the EAIC also found that the police report and six latest entries in the Dairy of the D9 Station Lock-up of the Kuala Lumpur Contingent Police Headquarters (IPPKL) on Dharmendran's death made by two members of the D9 sentry contained false information on the actual situation of Dharmendran's death."The notes and reports were made on the instruction of the Deputy Head of the IPPKL Criminal Investigation Department (Intelligence and Operations). They had created the information which were known to be incorrect or false which prevented investigation into the case in a fair and equitable manner," he said.
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Yaacob said that lodging a false police report was an offence under Section 177 or Section 182 of the Penal Code.He said that the 299-page report would be handed over to Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar and Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohamed Apandi Ali on Thursday for immediate action.It would also be submitted to the office of the Chief Secretary to the Government, Health Ministry Secretary-General, the Secretary-General of Home Affairs, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Paul Low and the Chief Registrar of the Federal Court.The EAIC Report also recommended serious attention be given on several matters, including disciplinary action against certain police officers and personnel, and suggested that the Attorney-General considered criminal charges against them for making false entry and changing the entry in the D9 serious crime lock-up diary.During the question and answer session, Yaacob said the EAIC findings was not connected and had not influenced the Dharmendran murder case, where the police personnel concerned were asked to enter their defence at the Appeals Court because the report had nothing to do with the criminal case.However, there was a possiblity that the report could be used as evidence because it was made according to the legal procedure and 'everything was done under oath'.The EAIC had held five public hearing sessions on the Dharmendran case which was open to the public and the media, from July 27 2015 until Nov 16, according to Section 35 of the Enforcement Agency of the Integrity Commission Act 2009 (Act 700).On Feb 26, the Kuala Lumpur Appeals Court had ordered Inspector S Hare Krishnan, 42, Sergeant Jaffri Jaafar, 46, Corporal Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 47, and Corporal Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 34, to enter their defence on the charge of killing Dharmendran, after setting aside their release by the Kuala Lumpur High Court. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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