The Malaysian Insight

Further action against the investigating officer, implicated in a death in custody case at South Klang police headquarters, will be taken once investigation is completed, said Selangor commissioner of police Arjunaidi Mohamed.

According to Arjunaidi, the officer with Umar Faruq Abdullah at the time the lorry driver fell to his death from the headquarters building on Thursday will no longer be involved in the case.

“As of now the officer has been dropped from the case until further notice,” he said in a press conference today at Selangor Police Headquarters today.

He added that investigation of the officer will be focused on negligence and also failure to provide a duty of care.

Arjunaidi also said that post-mortem for Umar will be carried out this evening after his Covid-19 swab test.

An early report today said Umar, who was handcuffed with his hands behind his back, was being moved from the third to the first floor of the building.

He fell to his death from a second-floor window during a scuffle.

Just days before, 43-year-old security guard Sivabalan Subramaniam died in custody at Gombak police headquarters.

He was picked up by police from his workplace in Bandar Baru Selayang to assist in an investigation into an extortion case. He died the same day in detention.

Gombak police chief Arifai Tarawe said Sivabalan was taken into custody at 11.40am, after which he had complained of breathing difficulties 

Police called for an ambulance and medical officers tried to revive him, but he was pronounced dead at 12.30pm.

Arifai said the deceased had a history of heart problems.

It was the second custodial death at the Gombak station, the first being that of A. Ganapathy, who sold milk.

He was arrested on February 24 to assist in investigations into his brother’s alleged crimes. He is said to have spent 12 days in custody before being admitted to hospital.

Ganapathy died of his injuries on April 18 after more than a month in intensive care. – June 4, 2021.