THE Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) is in the final stages of completing a renewed investigation into the death of Teoh Beng Hock, a political aide whose body was found at a government building in 2009 under controversial circumstances.
According to Federal Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Director, Datuk Seri Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain, the case file is currently being refined, as directed by the Kuala Lumpur High Court, and is expected to be handed over to the Deputy Public Prosecutor (DPP) soon.
“This is a limited investigation in terms of resources because the incident occurred 15 years ago,” he said during a press conference at Bukit Aman police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.
“There are also witnesses we are unable to re-interview,” he added.
Also present at the briefing was Bukit Aman CID Deputy Director (Operations/Intelligence), Datuk Fadil Marsus.
Mohd Shuhaily revealed that police had faced difficulties in engaging with the family of the late Teoh, noting that a lack of full cooperation had posed a challenge to the reinvestigation.
He also addressed the use of modern technology in the case, stating that efforts to reconstruct the scene using 3D scanning technology yielded limited assistance to the investigation. Nevertheless, he said some scientific findings could still contribute to the case.
“What might assist us further is the application of physics—examining angles and degrees of the fall—and that’s additional information we can include in the case file,” he explained.
The renewed investigation follows a court order issued by the Kuala Lumpur High Court on 21 November last year, instructing PDRM to complete the probe within six months.
The directive was issued by Judge Datuk Wan Ahmad Farid Wan Salleh (now a Court of Appeal judge), who allowed a judicial review filed by Teoh’s parents against the Inspector-General of Police, the CID Director, the police force, and the Malaysian government.
Teoh Beng Hock, then serving as political secretary to Seri Kembangan assemblyman Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead on July 16, 2009 on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam. He had been questioned the previous night by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the 14th floor of the same building.
In early February, Mohd Shuhaily visited the site of Teoh’s death, where he confirmed that the police had utilised 3D scanning technology in an attempt to digitally reconstruct the scene as part of the renewed effrts to determine the circumstances surrounding Teoh’s fall.
The case, which has long drawn public scrutiny and prompted calls for justice, remains one of Malaysia’s most politically sensitive deaths in custody. – April 15, 2025
