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Violence and death at the hands of the Police

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The judge’s decision is expected to open the floodgates to possibly many other civil suits against the police.

Malaysian Insider

IGP responsible for Kugan’s death in police custody, court rules

By Rita Jong
June 26, 2013

Malaysia’s national police chief was responsible for the death of detainee A. Kugan who was physically tortured during interrogation by police four years ago, the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled today in a civil suit.

High Court judge Datuk V. T. Singham said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, who was then the Selangor police chief, is liable to misfeasance in the case.

The judge’s decision is expected to open the floodgates to possibly many other civil suits against the police.

Singham, in allowing the negligence suit, said he also believed that the injuries Kugan suffered could not have been done by one officer and that the senior officers cannot plead ignorance.

“This court also finds several glaring material contradictions between Khalid and other witnesses in respect to the investigation into the death of the deceased,” he said.

“No person in any position or rank, when testifying in court, should take this court for granted and attempt to suppress the truth to escape liability.”

Singham commended human rights lawyer N. Surendran who brought up this case and helped pursue a second postmortem which later showed abuse.

“If not for him, this matter would have been swept under the carpet.” Singham awarded Kugan’s mother, N. Indra, RM851,700 in assault and battery, false imprisonment, misfeasance, and pain and suffering damages.

IGP responsible for Kugan’s death in police custody, court rules

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Malaysiakini

Kuala Lumpur High Court Judge VT Singham has backed the proposal to form the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) immediately, noting an increase in cases of death in custody.

“The recommendation of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) must not be kept in cold storage and allowed to freeze.

“It must be activated as soon as possible in order to assure all concerned members of society, including family members of deceased persons, that an independent agency is looking into the matter without any influence from the local police officers,” Singham said.

He said this while reading out his judgment on the civil suit against the government brought by the family of custodial death victim A Kugan. However, this observation is not legally binding.

Set up IPCMC now, urges High Court judge

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Malaysia Chronicle

Wednesday, 26 June 2013 14:01

Court awards RM801k damages to Kugan’s mum, scolds IGP, govt for covering up “murder”

Written by  Malaysia Chronicle

Court awards RM801k damages to Kugan’s mum, scolds IGP, govt for covering up “murder”

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Sundaily

Kugan’s family wins suit against police

KUALA LUMPUR (June 26, 2013): Family of A. Kugan wins negligence suit against the police for Kugan’s Jan 2009 death at the Taipan USJ police station.

High Court Judge Datuk V.T. Singham awards RM751,700 in damages and RM50,000 in costs to plaintiffs with five percent interest per annum starting from today.

Kugan’s family wins suit against police

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Free Malaysia Today

Court fixes June 19 for decision on Kugan’s death

The High Court will decide on a negligence suit filed by the mother of A Kugan, a suspected car-jacker who died in police custody in 2009.

KUALA LUMPUR; The High Court here has fixed June 19 for decision on a negligence suit filed by the mother of A Kugan, a suspected car-jacker who died in police custody in 2009.

Justice VT Singham set the date today, after hearing submissions from all parties involved.

On Jan 13, last year, N Indra filed a claim for RM100 million in damages and named then-Selangor police chief Khalid Abu Bakar (currently the inspector-general of police), as the first defendant; former police constable V Navindran (second defendant); former Subang Jaya police chief ACP Zainal Rashid Abu Bakar (third defendant-now deceased); inspector-general of police (fourth defendant); and, the government as fifth defendant.

Senior federal counsel Azizan Md Arshad, who represented Khalid, Zainal

Rashid, the police force and the government, submitted that after investigations, there was a link between Navindran and the cause of injuries inflicted on the deceased.

“In the trial, it was shown that Navindran came to the police station where the deceased was held and caused (the said) injuries. Two policemen, lance corporals Mohd Haizan Hamid and Junid Haron, then stopped Navindran from further beating the deceased.

“Navindran was charged in a criminal court and found guilty based on Mohd Haizan and Junid’s evidence. Therefore, we submit that the decision to charge Navindran clearly showed that he had not carried out his official duty as a police officer, but had acted on a frolic of his own,” he said.

Azizan also said that Navindran had only denied that he was the one who caused the injuries without any corroboration, blaming others for using him as a ‘scapegoat’, rather than challenge the evidence adduced by others.

Counsel R Sivarasa, representing Indra, submitted that Indra had lost support and monthly contributions after Kugan died.

Court fixes June 19 for decision on Kugan’s death | Free Malaysia

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Yahoo! News Malaysia

CPO should have stated cause of Kugan’s death’ – Yahoo! News

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The lance corporal also told the court that he had made a mistake by not recording the incident in the station diary, saying he had not expected anything bad to happen to Kugan later.

Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 — Suspected car thief K. Kugan was beaten while in custody, a policeman who witnessed the assault told the High Court today, but confessed that he had failed to record the incident in the station diary as he had not expected the man to die as a result.

Lance Corporal Mohd Haizan Hamid, the last person to testify in the RM100 million lawsuit by Kugan’s mother, N. Indra, recounted he saw a fellow police officer, Constable V. Navindran, beat up Kugan in an interrogation room at the USJ-Taipan police station in Subang Jaya, Selangor four years ago.

Mohd Haizan said he had stopped Navindran (picture) from bashing Kugan further.

“As I entered the room, I saw Navindran beating up Kugan and I pulled him away to stop him from continuing the assault,” Mohd Haizan said under questioning from Ramesh Sivakumar, lawyer for Navindran.

Kugan bashed in custody, eyewitness admits not jotted in station diary

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At the meeting, to which all of the D9 (serious crime) officers stationed at Taipan were called, Rodney claimed Zainal had asked one of them to admit to beating Kugan or become a scapegoat.

Malaysiakini

While former Selangor police chief and current deputy inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar has denied that Constable V Navindran was made a scapegoat for the death of A Kugan, another senior officer has admitted to the court that a meeting was held to discuss who should take the fall.

Officer in charge of the Taipan police station ASP Rodney Pasla Harris today admitted there was a meeting called by the late Subang Jaya OCPD Zainal Rashid.

Kugan case: Cop tells of meeting to identify scapegoat

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Khalid said police had rejected the second autopsy due to suspicions that Kugan’s body had been tampered with.

Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 17 ― A High Court judge berated Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar today for putting the interest of the police ahead of the public when he did not order an investigation into suspicions that the body of detainee A. Kugan had been tampered with before it was sent for a second post-mortem.

Datuk VT Singham, presiding over a RM100 million suit brought by Kugan’s mother, N. Indra, against Khalid, had asked the man who was in 2009 the Selangor police chief why he did not order an investigation or propose an inquest since there was a second post mortem report that conflicted with the first.

“So, your evidence is that all the injury on Kugan was caused by someone else? That’s your personal view. Why didn’t you allow an investigation?

“With respect, it seems you are thinking for the police when the public wanted to know (how Kugan really died). This is a very serious accusation,” Singham said.

Judge ticks off senior cop for putting interest of police before public

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Malaysiakini

Former Selangor police chief and current deputy inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar has denied that Constable V Navindran was made a scapegoat for the death of A Kugan.

Khalid, who is a defendant in the negligence suit brought by Kugan’s mother N Indra, maintained in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today that there was no cover-up in the police investigations.

“After the incident was reported, I asked all nine officers involved in Kugan’s interrogation transferred to the Selangor police contingent headquarters.

“This is so that they would not interfere in the on-going investigations,” Khalid said.

Khalid denies Navindran was made a scapegoat

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Malaysiakini

The injuries on A Kugan, who was found dead in the Taipan-USJ police station on Jan 20, 2009, were inflicted by men from the D9 (Serious Crimes) division, a police sub-inspector admitted in the High Court in Kuala Lumpur.

However, Loh Voon Chye, 56, attached to the Subang Jaya CID, did not name the officer or the rank-and-file personnel involved in assaulting Kuga .

“There must be some people involved in causing the injuries,” Loh said yesterday in reply to questions from Sivarasa Rasiah, who is appearing for Kugan’s mother N Indra, in her RM100 million suit against the police and the government.
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Loh was the supervisor at the Taipan police station where Kugan died on Jan 20, 2009 morning and was issued with a letter of warning after the incident.
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To another question, he said he did not know whether Navindran, or anyone else, had hurt Kugan resulting in his death.

“All I know is that Kugan’s death at 11.48am on Jan 20 was not during Navindran’s watch as he (Navindran) was supposed to start work at noon,” Loh said.

Navindran, who was convicted of causing hurt to Kugan, had earlier testified that he had been made a scapegoat by the police, and was blamed and charged for what had happened to Kugan.

Witness: D9 personnel inflicted Kugan’s injuries

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Malaysiakini

A police inspector who arrested A Kugan in 2009, who is also the interrogation officer, gave conflicting testimony at the Kuala Lumpur High Court in the civil suit filed by Kugan’s mother, N Indra, compared to what he had said during the criminal trial.

Inspector Faaezal Monir, 31, had in the criminal trial involving constable V Navindran, who was convicted of hurting Kugan, told the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court that he was familiar with the lock-up rules and that he gave the order to interrogate the suspect for 24 hours.
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Today, to questions from Indra’s counsel, Sivarasa Rasiah, Faaezal sang a different tune when he told the court he was not familiar with the lock-up rules.

At one point during the cross-examination, Sivarasa warned the witness not to give false evidence as he could be charged with perjury.
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At today’s hearing, Faaezal said he was not familiar with the lock-up rules requiring detainees to be in their lock-up at night.Replying to questions from Sivarasa, he said he did not ask the interrogation on Kugan be done continuously for 24 hours.

Interrogation officer gives conflicting testimony

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Malaysiakini

The High Court in Kuala Lumpur was told today that there was no cover-up in the death of police detainee A Kugan.

Deputy inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar, in a witness statement tendered to the court, said the police left no stone unturned in the investigations into the case.

Khalid was the Selangor police chief when Kugan, 23, died while in police custody on Jan 20, 2009.

Six days earlier, the deceased was picked up on suspicion of involvement in a luxury car theft.

Khalid, 55, who is the first defendant in a RM100 million lawsuit by Kugan’s mother, N Indra, said the three-year imprisonment meted out by the Sessions court to police personnel V Navindran on June 11, this year for voluntarily causing hurt to Kugan, showed the police and the government did not condone abuse of authority.

He also said the allegations by Indra that police had failed to ensure her son’s security or that he had issued misleading public statements were without basis.

Bernama

No cover-up in Kugan’s death, says deputy IGP

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Malaysiakini

A former constable accused of causing hurt to police detainee A Kugan has told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that he was made a scapegoat by the former Subang Jaya OCPD.

V Navindran, 32, the first defence witness to testify in the RM100 million death-in-custody suit by Kugan’s mother, also told the court that lock-up rules were not followed with regard to Kugan’s detention.
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Prior to being charged in court in October 2009, Navindran said the Subang Jaya OCPD (the late) ACP Zainal Rashid Abu Bakar, had called in all police personnel involved in the custody of Kugan.

“This was to determine who among us would be the scapegoat in this case. Finally, I was chosen to be the scapegoat although I was not a willing participant in this,” he said, explaining that no less than 10 people had access to suspects at the Taipan USJ police station.

‘No lock-up in Taipan police station’

Navindran also said Kugan had been subjected to continuous interrogation, with officers taking turns doing so, following his arrest on Jan 15.

He said any member of the D9 (serious crimes unit) could go in and out of the Taipan police station and would be exposed to Kugan, as there was no lock-up there.

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Ex-cop: I was made the scapegoat for Kugan’s death

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Malaysiakini

The preliminary post-mortem report on Kajang Prison inmate R Kumarajah shows he did not die of AIDS, says G Sivamalar, the lawyer for the family.

The post-mortem examination done at Hospital Serdang indicates that Kumarajah may have died of heart inflammation, Sivamalar, who is with Lawyers for Liberty, told Malaysiakini.

The hospital pathologist’s information, she said, was that Kumarajah may have died of “heart muscle inflammation caused by bacteria or virus.”

The family, she said, would file a complaint with the Malaysian Medical Council (MMC) against the Kajang Hospital for refusing to perform a post-mortem Kumarajah.

Lawyer: Kumarajah did not die of AIDS

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Malaysiakini

A post-mortem is being carried out on R Kumarajah, who police said died of AIDs at the Kajang Prison on Monday.

The post-mortem began at noon today and it will take about three hours to be completed, PKR’s human rights activist S Jayathas told Malaysiakini.

Jayathas, together with Lawyers for Liberty representative G Sivamalar, Kumarajah’s family members, magistrate Abdul Jalil and ASP Suresh of the Kajang district police station were briefed on the procedure by Hospital Serdang head of forensics Dr Zuraidah.

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post-mortem 

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Malaysiakini

N Indra, A Kugan’s mother, told the Kuala Lumpur High Court that she does not believe the first post-mortem report on her son, as she believes he had died from the beatings he suffered while in police detention.

Indra (left) also told the court, in the her RM100 million civil suit against the government and the police, that contrary to the first post-mortem which found 22 injuries to his body, the second detailed 45.
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The first post-mortem revealed the cause of death was fluid in the lungs.

“I heard over a radio, while on the funeral procession, where Khalid said Kugan had died of water in the lungs. No mention was made of the horrific beatings that had truly caused the death. I knew then that the police were once again trying to cover up a death custody case.

“This time it was none other than the Selangor CPO who was making the statement,” Surendran said.

He explained that on hearing this, they decided to bring the body to the University Malaya Medical Centre which agreed to keep the body preserved before a post-mortem was done and paid for by Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo.

The second post-mortem performed by Dr Prashant Samberkar found that the cause of death was the terrible beatings that resulted in the cells breaking down, damaging Kugan’s kidneys.

“This led to a condition called rhabdomyolysis, which led to Kugan’s death,” said Surendran.
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I don’t believe official autopsy report, says Kugan’s mum

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The RM100m suit

A Kugan, aa suspected car thief, died while under custody three years ago.

A Kugan’s death was initially classified as sudden death and attributed to water in his lungs, according to an initial post-mortem report.

However, the case was reclassified as murder following a public outcry.

Eleven rank and file policemen were transferred to desk duty at the Selangor police headquarters but only one person — Navindran — was charged over the incident.

June 2012: Navindran was sentenced by a Shah Alam Sessions Court to three years’ jail for each of two counts of causing hurt to Kugan.

January 14, 2012: N Indra, Kugan’s mother, filed a suit against Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, who was then the Selangor CPO; ACP Zainal Rashid; police constable V. Navindran; the Inspector-General of Police; and the government, for negligence and breach of statutory duty.

In her statement of claim, she alleged that all the defendants had failed to ensure the safety and health of her son Kugan, who was in police custody from January 14 to 20, 2009, before succumbing to his assault injuries.

She also accused the defendants of an attempted cover-up, claiming that statements issued from them were largely designed to exonerate the police from blame or liability.

Indra is seeking RM100 million in general and exemplary damages, costs and any other relief deemed fit by the court.

Cops tried to hide Kugan’s injuries, court told

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Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 2 ― The police had sought to hide the injuries on the body of A. Kugan, a suspected car thief who died while under custody three years ago, witness N. Surendran told the High Court here today.

Surendran, who was the first witness to testify in the RM100 million negligence suit filed by Kugan’s mother N. Indra against the authorities, also told the court that the police had instructed the Serdang Hospital to forbid the youth’s family from viewing his body in the morgue on the night of January 20, 2009.

“I was shocked because an official at the mortuary told us that the police had prohibited us from seeing Kugan’s body,” he said in his written witness statement today.

The PKR vice president later added that the official only permitted the visits after pleas from Kugan’s family members and those who had gathered at the hospital that night.

“What happened next?” Indra’s lead counsel, R. Sivarasa, asked.

“The condition of Kugan’s body was terrible: blood was seen flowing from his nose and mouth, and he was foaming,” Surendran replied.

The lawyer-cum-politician also accused the police of refusing to co-operate when a second autopsy on the youth’s body was called for, pointing out that they did not issue a request letter to the hospital.
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Universiti Malaya Medical Centre’s pathologist Dr Prashant N. Samberkar later conducted the second post-mortem, following public pressure on the case.

It was after the second post-mortem that it was confirmed that Kugan had died from kidney failure that resulted from the beatings he had received from the police while under custody.

Cops tried to hide Kugan’s injuries, court told

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