Man dies in custody 24 hours before court appearance

Police urge public not to speculate as no injury was found on the dead detainee.

NIBONG TEBAL: A lock-up detainee was found dead in the Nibong Tebal police station this morning, just a day before he was to be charged in court for theft.

Seberang Prai Selatan OCPD Supt Shafien Mamat said the detainee, A Punniyanathan, 40, was pronounced dead upon arrival at the Seberang Jaya Hospital.

Shafien said post-mortem result showed that the deceased had died of lung infection.

“Punniyanathan and another man, believed to be a friend of his, were arrested by village folks in Sungai Bakap and subsequently handed over to the police on Feb 5 after they were allegedly caught red handed stealing iron rods meant for construction in the village.

“In remand, Punniyanathan was seen to be acting peculiarly; lock-up police reported that he was seen talking to himself and would remove his lock-up attire and walk around in the cell naked in a restless manner, believed to be caused by alcohol deprivation as he was said to be an alcoholic.

“When the police were doing their rounds at about 6.20am this morning, they found the deceased sprawled motionless, stark naked,” he told a press conference at the district police station here today.

Shafien added that the officer in charge of the police station then contacted the Sungai Bakap Hospital and a team of paramedics who arrived shortly confirmed that Punniyanathan had died at about 7.20am. His body was then taken to the hospital for a post mortem.

Shafein urged the public not to make any speculation as there was no injury found on the body of the deceased.

“The deceased had been charged in court before under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder and Section 324 of the Penal Code for assault but was subsequently relieved of both charges

“We gathered that the deceased had a serious alcohol addiction and was a very heavy drinker,” he said

He said Punniyanathan was a bachelor selling scrap metal.

Police, he said, had classified the case as sudden death.