KUALA LUMPUR: The sole police officer who was said to have punched and kicked car robbery suspects S Balamurugan, K Tamilasan and juvenile Ang Tian Kok today denied using any violent force to get confession from the trio.

Mohaneswaran Thiagarajah, a D9 police officer from the Klang Selatan police headquarters, told an inquiry at the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) headquarters that he only shouted at the three possible suspects.

“I did not hit anyone. I didn’t use any objects to hit Tamilasan or Ang Tian Kok. I shouted at Balamurugan, ‘What case are you involved in old man?’, in Tamil,” said Mohaneswaran after being grilled by commissioner Yaacob Md Som.

The officer then revealed that the main suspect of the car robbery case was Tamilasan, adding that Balamurugan was not involved in the case.

“Prior to the arrest of the trio, I was in Pandamaran with Insp Vicknes Waran and his men. We were informed about the arrest and at the Bandar Baru Klang police station I first saw Balamurugan.

“The only wanted person at that time was Tamilasan. Balamurugan was not involved and was not the suspect. I am not sure if Ang was a suspect,” said Mohaneswaran in an intense hearing session.

Mohaneswaran then denied interrogating the three possible suspects saying he was just merely asking questions to the three men.

He also said that he left the interrogation room at the same time as Insp Vicknes Waran took Ang to Banting to make another arrest.

“I raised my voice but it was not as loud as what was said by the others. I was merely asking. I left the room together with Vicknes Waran on that evening,” he told the inquiry.

During yesterday’s inquiry, four police officers denied witnessing any beatings as alleged by juvenile Ang Tian Kok and Tamilasan.

All four officers agreed that only shouts were hurled to the three men and none admitted to have punched and kicked the possible suspects.

However, the officers’ account yesterday contradicted with the accounts from Ang and Tamilasan who both said they were punched and kicked during the short interrogation process.

Tamilasan previously informed the hearing that Balamurugan was kicked and punched during a brief interrogation at the Bandar Baru Klang police station.

Both Ang and Tamilasan identified Insp Mohaneswaran as the person who used violent force on them.

Not sure how victim got injured

Insp Mohaneswaran was then showed pictures of injuries sustained by Balamurugan following the autopsy.

The police officer told the inquiry that he was not sure how Balamurugan had sustained the injuries and once again denied punching and kicking the deceased.

“I am not sure if he had injuries before he was arrested and I am not sure how he sustain it.

“As I said I only raised my voice,” he said.

On Feb 11 this year, four days after Balamurugan’s death in custody, North Klang police chief ACP Mohd Yusoff Mamat disclosed that more than 10 policemen at the North Klang district police headquarters were under investigation over the death.

Mohd Yusoff, however, said none of the policemen had been suspended as investigations were ongoing.

He said claims by certain quarters that there were bruises and injuries on the body of Balamurugan should not arise until the autopsy report was released from the hospital.

During an earlier hearing, a pathologist from the Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah suggested that the blunt force trauma sustained by Balamurugan during his detention could have triggered a heart attack that probably caused his death.

Dr Kartini Md Arif, who performed the first autopsy on Balamurugan, told an inquiry that the bruise marks found on Balamurugan’s body was caused by a blunt object but added that the injury itself was not serious enough to cause the death.

Another pathologist, Dr Siew Sheue Feng, concurred with Kartini’s finding and said he found 20 more blunt force trauma marks on the deceased’s body.

“It was not self-inflicted but was made to cause pain; but it was not the cause of death.

“The deceased had a serious heart condition and with multiple injuries it is part and parcel of the death. The marks were from blunt objects but I can’t be sure what type of object,” said Siew, who is a forensic expert.

Resource : Berita Daily