KUALA LUMPUR – In what could be yet another instance of custodial death, a 43-year-old security guard died less than an hour after being taken in at the Gombak district police headquarters (IPD) yesterday afternoon.
A Facebook video posted on the account of former Tamil radio station DJ Sri Shankar Ganesh, better known as “Funky” Shankar, revealed that the sister of the victim, Sivabalan Subramaniam, claims she was informed by police that her brother was in critical condition at Selayang Hospital about 3pm.
She said a policeman then informed her mother that Sivabalan had died due to breathing difficulties and was asked to make her way to the hospital’s Forensic Department.
“Till now, we are still unaware of what happened to him except that the policeman had also told me that Sivabalan died at 12.25pm,” she said in the video.
Also in the video, the victim’s mother said her son was called to the police station over investigations into a 2016 extortion case.
Meanwhile, Gombak district police chief Arifai Tarawe said investigations into Sivabalan’s death are ongoing, with the case being classified as a sudden death, pending the outcome of a post-mortem at Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
In a statement last night, Arifai confirmed that police from the Gombak Criminal Investigations Department (CID) had detained a suspect about 11.20am at the security post of a factory in Taman Selayang Baru.
“The suspect was reportedly wanted in relation to a criminal intimidation case at the Gombak IPD for documentation purposes.
“After the suspect arrived at 11.40am, while at the Gombak CID office, he suffered breathing difficulties.
“The police then contacted Selayang Hospital for emergency aid.
“The ambulance team arrived at the scene and administered emergency resuscitation.
“Selayang Hospital’s assistant medical officer then confirmed that the suspect had died at 12.30pm,” he said.
Initial investigations revealed that the suspect had a history of heart disease.
He added that the man had two previous criminal records, one for drugs and the other over a criminal offence, in which he is classified as wanted.
Sivabalan’s death comes less than a month after the same police station was embroiled in controversy over the death of cow milk trader A. Ganapathy while in police custody.
Ganapathy died in hospital on April 18, more than a month after being taken there from the police station on March 8.
That case saw netizens expressing their outrage on social media with hashtags such as #JusticeForGanapathy and #BrutalityinMalaysia. – The Vibes, May 21, 2021
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