Son claims late father arrived in Malaysia only recently, had no criminal record

The family of a Sri Lankan national shot dead by Malaysian police have produced proof to dispute the authorities’ claim about his immigration and criminal records.

Forty-year-old V Janarthanan was one of the three men killed in a Sept 14 shooting which took place in Batu Arang, Rawang.

Selangor police told the media that he had been killed in pursuit as part of a home robbery gang. 

They said Janarthanan had also been involved in a robbery in Sentul back in 2016.

The police also cast aspersions on the family’s claim that the UK permanent resident had only recently arrived in the country, saying their checks had found no record of his arrival at any Malaysian entry point.

At a press conference today, Janarthanan’s teenage son P Logitharan said his father had been working as a manager in a supermarket in Portsmouth, the UK for the whole of 2016.

He said therefore, it was impossible for his father to have committed any crime in Malaysia as Janarthanan was in the UK at the time.

Logitharan also showed his father's flight details to the media which revealed the travel itinerary of Janarthanan as well as the whole family.

The itinerary showed that they departed from London’s Gatwick Airport on Aug 26 this year and arrived at KLIA the next day on Qatar Airways flight QR852.

He also displayed a baggage tag bearing Janarthanan’s name, flight number and flight details which showed he was slated to fly back to London on Sept 23.

In light of these documents, the family’s lawyer P Uthayakumar accused the police of “tampering” with immigration records.

“Now, the Selangor police chief (Noor Azam Jamaludin) and CID chief (Adnan Azizon) are liars. Have they tampered with (the records)?

“Who erased the immigration records? Who erased it?” he asked.

Logitharan’s mother G Moganambal was also said to be involved in the shooting incident. She is now missing.

Why label my son a criminal?

Also present were Janarthanan’s mother, N Thanalakshmi and stepfather T Navaratnaraja, who arrived in Malaysia from Switzerland where they are permanent residents.

Speaking in Sri Lankan Tamil, Thanalakshmi was inconsolable as she mourned for her son.

“We were so scared to come to Malaysia. My son comes from a decent family and now he is suddenly labelled as a criminal.

“I usually can’t sleep without first talking to my son. I do not know how to face life after this,” she said through her tears.

Navaratnaraja was upset that his stepson had not only been shot dead but was now being misrepresented as a felon, adding they had last met in June this year in the UK.

According to Selangor police, Janarthanan and two other men were involved in an armed robbery incident and were all killed during an exchange of fire. 

Police said that they found two guns, three machetes and face masks in their vehicle.

The family today stood by their counterclaim that the three men and Moganambal had gone out for dinner in Serdang before they were “kidnapped” and shot by the police in Rawang.

They have demanded police to reveal footage from the dashboard cameras of their vehicles to set the record straight as to what happened. -Mkini