Man dies in lock-up five hours after arrest

A 36-year-old man died in police custody yesterday morning, much to the shock of his family, who lodged a report over his death in Jalan Pattani Northeast police headquarters, Penang, today.

The man's brother-in-law Looi Chooi Aik said the family met with one Inspector Azmin in the Tanjong Tokong police station at about 11am this morning and was told that Cheah Chin Lee had died.

Cheah, who works at a furniture shop, was as arrested at about 12am early yesterday morning and was brought to the Jalan Pattani police headquarters for a urine test until 2am, Looi claimed.

It is believed that Cheah was arrested for suspicions of car theft involvement.

"According to this Inspector Azmin, Cheah was brought back to Tanjong Tokong (police station) at about 5am and was found dead 20 minutes later," Looi, 45, told reporters outside the police headquarters.

Looi, who is a training manager, said he lodged the report to urge police to carry out a thorough probe into the death of his brother-in-law.

He added that as a member of Cheah's family, he cannot accept the result of the post-mortem report that says the latter died of "asphyxia due to hanging".

"We cannot accept the report. We want police to be responsible for his death.

"I cannot accept the police's explanation that Cheah died from suicide because there is no proof," Looi said.

Looi said there was no reason for Cheah to commit suicide as he had a "permanent job and was emotionally stable".

He urged the police to provide the family with a CCTV recording of the incident and expressed shock that "a man detained could have committed suicide in five hours".

No cover up

Georgetown OCPD Gan Kon Meng said an officer would be assigned to investigate the case, saying there would be "no cover up".

Gan said that police would investigate the case from all angles to see if foul play was involved, adding that investigation papers would be submitted to the public prosecutor as soon as possible.

"The papers would include recommendations for an inquest and further instructions on how to proceed with the case," he told reporters.

Suaram secretariat member Ng Eng Kiat, who accompanied Looi to the police station, said family members of the deceased were unable to accept the police’s explanation.

Ng said the family had received the post-mortem report from the hospital but the one-line report was most unsatisfactory.

"The family is questioning how the forensic department can come to that only conclusion when the cause of death could have been other reasons," Ng said.

Ng added  Suaram is "deeply disturbed" over the incident as there have been other incidences of death in police custody over the years.

"We are disturbed because a citizen who has never been convicted of any crime can suddenly die after being arrested for only less than six hours.

"The police is supposed to protect the community and carry out investigations on cases to identify the perpetrators. The police station should be the safest place but it is clearly not so," he added.