Police to review health status of new suspects in custody - IGP

 

Police will review the health status of all new suspects brought into custody, according to Inspector-General of Police Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani.

Acryl said the measure is an improvement undertaken by PDRM to prevent more incidents of death in police custody.

“Following incidents of death in custody, for purposes of administration, we have temporarily instructed all investigating officers or any police personnel who brought in suspects to be detained to first review the person’s health status either with the individual themselves or their next-of-kin,” he said during a press conference in Bukit Aman.

Acryl Sani said the police view the issue of deaths in custody seriously and will continue to improve its detainee management procedures.

“We don’t want these incidents to happen. If we can see lately, the way how we manage detainees have improved, (but) there is still more room for improvement.

“From time to time, we always strive to improve,” he said when commenting on a recent Home Ministry order for police to initiate a probe on recent deaths in custody.

The long-standing issue of death in custody once again caught public attention in April after the death of A Ganapathy.

Ganapathy’s family claimed the 40-year-old milk trader’s health had deteriorated while in custody as a result of beatings, as his legs were swollen and bruised as though he had been assaulted.

Ganapathy had spent 12 days in police custody from February 24 to March 8 before he was admitted to Selayang Hospital, where his legs were later amputated after contracting necrotising fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease, and later died.

Police, however, said there was no evidence to show that Ganapathy was assaulted while in detention.

Ganapathy’s death, as well as that of 21-year-old Surendran Shanker in custody of Simpang Renggam Prison, had sparked fresh outcry from politicians and rights groups for greater accountability.

Acryl Sani further welcomed other agencies, including the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC), to investigate PDRM over any misconduct in the death in custody cases.

“We are trying to take PDRM towards a higher level of service while remaining close with the people,” he said. - Mkini