PUTRAJAYA, June 4- Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has advised all quarters including government and opposition parties and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) representing the Indian committee, not to be emotional and resort to holding street protests over the recent death of three individuals while in police custody.
He urged them to instead give full trust to the special committee headed by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar tasked with tackling the issue of sudden deaths in the police lock-ups.
“I would like to assure the public that given the trust, we will not compromise in the deaths in police lock-up issue.
“Trust us, as what we’re doing is according to the international standards,” he said when asked on the plan by MIC strategic director S. Vell Paari together with some Indian-based NGOs to organise a street protest over the recent death of three Indians while in police custody.
Ahmad Zahid said the government viewed this matter seriously, hence the IGP himself and not any other senior police officer was heading the special committee investigating the custodial deaths.
He stressed that the government would not compromise in this matter, which is currently a hot issue with various quarters.
“We are very concerned about the death of detainees in the police lock-ups,” he said, adding that besides in his capacity as a minister, he personally viewed the matter humanitarianly and that there must be justice and solutions found.
“There’s no need to organise street protests and such (over the custodial deaths) as my deputy and I will give much attention to this issue,” he said.
Ahmad Zahid said in light of the incidents, the government would be reviewing the standard operating procedure (SOP) of police interrogation of detainees.
“If the individuals (policemen) have done things outside the SOP during investigation, the responsibility will not be totally placed on the police force but the individuals concerned,” he said.
Asked whether the police officers who interrogated N.Dharmendran, one of three detainees who died in the police lock-ups recently, had been suspended from work, Ahmad Zahid said this was in the process.
Dharmendran, 32, died on May 21 in the Kuala Lumpur police contingent headquarters lock-up, while R. Jamesh Ramesh, 40, was found dead in the Penang state police headquarters on May 26, a day after he was detained over a drug offence.
The latest case was that of engineer P. Karuna Nithi, 42, who died on June 1 while in police custody in Tampin.
-BERNAMA
