Dr Subra wants quick actions on custodial deaths

MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam says immediate suspension of policemen involved in custodial deaths would serve as a deterrent.

SUBANG JAYA: Police personnel involved in the interrogation of suspects who subsequently die while in police custody must be suspended immediately pending the outcome on the cause of such sudden deaths, said MIC deputy president Dr S Subramaniam today.

Although admitting that suspending a civil servant was not a simple procedure, Subramaniam said such an action was nevertheless important as a deterrent measure to stop police brutality on suspects on custody.

“Because death in custody has been occurring too often, every month we have one case, the number is huge.

“There is a request from both sides of the divide that we should stop this. So as a deterrent action, maybe if there is evidence, (the police officials) should be suspended.

“But in the civil service, you cannot take action against them unless they are found guilty,” he said.

When asked specifically if the four policemen who had been identified in the sudden death of P Dhamendran should have been suspended instead of just given desk duties pending investigation, Subramaniam said that was up to the police to decide.

Earlier, MIC strategic director S Vell Paari had called for the four policemen to be suspended immediately instead of bring reassignment pending for the completion of investigation.

Dhamendran was found dead in police custody on May 21 after he was picked up by the police over involvement in a fight and detained in the city police headquarters for 10 days.

The preliminary post-mortem conducted at Hospital Kuala Lumpur revealed that Dhamendran had died due to severe force trauma, with severe injuries found on his back and buttock. The report also found two parts of the deceased body – ankles and ears – were stapled.

Immediately after Dhamendran’s case, R Jamesh Ramesh, 40, was found dead in a police lock up at the Penang police headquarters on May 26, after being detained for a drug offence.

Yesterday, another detainee 42-year-old P Karuna Nithi died in police custody in Tampin – making it three deaths in 11 days.

Subramaniam said the police should conduct swift and transparent investigation on the matter so that it can convince the victims’ family that the police are taking action.

“Too often we find that the investigation takes too long to complete,” he said.

Ban on cigarette promotions
Meanwhile on a separate matter, Subramaniam, who is the health minister, said his ministry would soon ban any form of direct or indirect promotions of cigarette under the new amendments made to the Tobacco Product Control Regulations.

He said the ban encompassed cigarette saleswomen who are popularly found in night clubs and grocery stores.

He said some other measures to curb cigarette usage included to increase the size of the warning graphic on each pack of cigarette to 50% of the packaging and to reduce the tar and nicotine substance in cigarettes.

They would also expand smoke-free zone to include walkways of buildings, and to tighten enforcements on contraband cigarettes.

“Our studies found that some of the lower and middle-income groups spend an average of RM500 on cigarette. This is huge sum of money for them,” he said.