Workshop supervisor used lighter to start fire, inquest told

 

An inquest was initiated after Kannadasan Veerasamy’s family raised suspicion about the manner of his death.

SHAH ALAM: A police officer testifying at an inquest into the death of a workshop supervisor believes the latter had used a lighter to start a fire which caused his own death and destroyed the premises.

Senior investigating officer Nagendra Rao said the victim, Kannadasan Veerasamy, had gone into the storeroom, where he was alone.

The lighter is believed to have been found under Kannadasan’s charred remains.

However, Nagendra said that police did not store the lighter as evidence as firemen had taken it for their own analysis, he said.

When questioned by the deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Siti Nabilah Rashid, Nagendra also revealed that the lighter was not relevant as investigators had identified the motive behind the incident.

Siti Nabilah: What was the finding of the investigation?

Nagendra: As the investigating officer, I am of the view that during the incident, the victim was alone in the storeroom and he had initiated the fire himself, which killed him and destroyed the workshop.

He also claimed that a report obtained from the fire and rescue department showed that some of the evidence taken from the storeroom had traces of petrol.

However, a report from the chemistry department contradicted the firemen’s findings as the report stated no such traces were found in the evidence police had submitted.

When asked by coroner Rasyihah Ghazali on the conflicting results, Nagendra explained that this was due to the fact the samples were taken from different parts of the storeroom.

Later, when questioned by the family’s lawyer, S Vinesh, on whether he had seen the lighter, Nagendra said he was only informed about it by the firemen some two weeks after the incident on Nov 19, 2021.

Vinesh had also questioned why the police only picked up the forensic department’s report on June 9, 2023, almost a year after the registration of the inquest was made.

To this, Nagendra answered that the inquest was registered based on statements.

Meanwhile, Nagendra testified that Kannadasan had also owed a friend who ran a shop selling praying accessories RM19,000.

Yesterday, the court heard that Kannadasan had allegedly misappropriated around RM57,000 from the workshop and had promised to return it to his employer within a month but never did.

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The inquest will resume on Oct 20.

It was convened after Kannadasan’s family expressed suspicion about the manner of his death.

In an interview with FMT in Dec 2021, his wife Revathi Elangovan ruled out suicide, saying her husband was a happy person who had no family or financial problems. - FMT