‘Cop kills man outside ‘no Indians allowed’ pub’

A police report claims that a father of four was shot by a plainclothes policeman believed to be moonlighting as a bouncer.

PETALING JAYA: A father of four was shot dead after a scuffle outside a karoake outlet in Ipoh which apparently bars Indians from patronising the waterhole.

The deceased’s employee has lodged a police report claiming that P Kathir Oli, 31, was gunned down by a plainclothes policeman moonlighting as a bouncer.

In his report filed with the Ipoh Central police headquarters, K Sashiteren, 21, said that he, Kathir and two others had gone to the outlet called Angel Fun Pub & Karaoke on Sept 14.

However, they were not allowed to enter the premises.

“A man told us that Indians are not allowed to patronise the pub. Kathir got upset and asked why can’t an Indian enter the pub?” said Sashiteren, adding that a heated exchange ensued.

At one point, he said, a patron threw a bottle from inside the pub which hit Kathir’s face and the latter grew enraged and threw the bottle back.

Following this, he added, a man and a woman emerged from the pub and started hurling obscenities
at them.

The first man, who had denied them entry, then calmed the duo and told them to return to the pub while Kathir, Sashiteren and their friends walked back to their car.

“But the second man from the pub reappeared and pushed Kathir, and so Kathir got mad and pushed him back,” said Sashiteren.

As they were reversing the car to leave the area, Sashiteren claimed that a third man, who is believed to be the pub’s bouncer, approached them with gun in hand.

“The third man told us not to leave the place or he will start shooting at us,” he said.

Fearing for their safety, Kathir and his friends came out of the car.

Sashiteren claimed that at this juncture, the armed man started assaulting Kathir and the latter fought back.

“I tried to stop them from fighting and that’s when I heard a gunshot. Kathir fell on me after getting shot on his chest,” he said.

Shashitheren later realised that the shooter was a cop when he handcuffed the trio after the arrival of a patrol car.

“We were taken to the police station by the patrol car and remanded for 11 days. Kathir’s body was still on the road when we were taken away,” he said.

‘Blindfolded and assaulted’

At the police station, Shashitheren alleged that he was blindfolded and assaulted.

“They kept asking me who brought a parang into the pub and who slashed the plainclothes policeman. I kept telling them the truth but they refused to listen,” he said.

Upset by the incident, Shashitheren apppoached Parti Sosialis Malaysia’s (PSM) Buntong service centre on Sept 26 for assistance and was advised to file a police report.

PSM central committee member R Mohanarani said the police had dropped the charges against the trio but Kathir’s family would file a case against the police for abuse of power.

“The family will lodge a report with Bukit Aman and we will also talk to Suhakam by end of the week as the police had called Kathir a criminal to justify their action,” she said.

The police version

The police meanwhile had been reported as saying that Kathir was shot dead by a detective during a scuffle.

Perak police chief Mohd Shukri Dahlan had said that Kathir and others were robbers who had tried to rob the pub.

He added the detective was walking by the pub and had stopped to help after hearing the pub owner screaming for help.

He said the robbers, including Kathir, had attacked the detective with a parang while trying to grab his gun. It was at this point that the detective had shot Kathir, added the state police chief.