SHAH ALAM: The next of kin of two men who were allegedly shot at close range by police in Rawang three years ago have filed two separate suits against 12 policemen, the then inspector-general of police and the government for negligence.
Court documents filed with the HIgh Court here showed the plaintiffs are also suing the parties for tort of misfeasance in public office.
They have also filed estate and dependency claims.
The first suit was filed by Jasminder Kaur, the widow of G Thavaselvan, and her sister, Jasvinder Kaur, in their capacity as the administrators of Thavaselvan’s estate.
The second suit was filed by M Dhanalakshmie, the mother-in-law of J Vijayaratnam, and Jasminder in their capacity as administrators of Vijayaratnam’s estate.
Both suits named Zakiol Kaning, S Prabahakaran Nair, Roslan Ahmad, V Jaya Ganaesh, Fazli Awang, Hairmi Miskon, D Devendran, P Maniam, P Visvanathan, Samsor Maarof and Noor Azam Jamaludin, then IGP Abdul Hamid Bador and the government as the defendants.
The lawyers for the plaintiffs, M Visvanathan and Sanjay Nathan, alleged that the defendants had been negligent in carrying out their duties, including shooting recklessly at the victims.
They alleged that the defendants had committed tort of misfeasance in public office by violating the Penal Code and the Federal Constitution and depriving the duo the right to life.
In the suits, the plaintiffs said they will rely on the inquest findings, medical evidence, the chemists’ and ballistic reports and close-circuit television recordings to prove their claims.
They are seeking damages, estate and dependency claims and other relief deemed fit by the court for the pain and suffering they went through.
Thavaselvan, his brother-in-law Vijayaratnam, a Sri Lankan national, and S Mahendran were killed in a shootout with the police at Km22 Jalan Rawang heading towards Batu Arang, following a 7km high-speed car chase, on Sept 14, 2019.
Police said they had been suspected of being involved in an armed robbery. They claimed that there was an exchange of fire with the trio at the edge of a jungle in Rawang and that two of the men had been armed with pistols, and another was swinging a parang at them.
The police maintained that they had acted in self-defence.
On May 31, a coroner’s court concluded that there was abuse of power and elements that were criminal in nature in the death of the three men.
Coroner Rasyihah Ghazali said that on the balance of probabilities, the trio had died of gunshot wounds on their heads and chests.
Rasyihah, however, said she was unable to conclude as to what had happened to G Moganambal, the wife of Vijayaratnam, who was reported missing after the incident and has yet to be found.
It is unclear whether the family of Mahendran had filed a similar suit.
Vijayaratnam, Moganambal and their two children had come to Malaysia from the UK in August 2019 to visit Moganambal’s mother and relatives. - FMT
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