Probe death of man in Cheras police custody as murder, says lawyer

 N Surendran says the family of Noorizwan Zulkefly also wants an independent team at Bukit Aman to take over the investigation.

Lawyer N Surendran at a press conference with the family of Noorizwan Zulkefly, who died while in police custody on Oct 1.

PETALING JAYA:

The lawyer for the family of an unemployed man who died in police custody recently has urged police to investigate the case as murder.

Noorizwan Zulkefly, 42, was pronounced dead at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz on Oct 1 after being taken from the Cheras police headquarters lock-up.

N Surendran said Noorizwan was detained on Sept 20, but it remained unclear why he was arrested or what offence he was alleged to have committed.

He said a pathologist had informed the family that Noorizwan died from blunt force trauma, with six to seven broken ribs and spinal injuries.

“These injuries raise questions about what happened while he was in custody and the level of monitoring provided to detainees,” he told a press conference at the Lawyers for Liberty office here today.

Surendran said the case should be investigated under Section 302 of the Penal Code by an independent team not involved in managing Noorizwan’s detention.

“We want the inspector-general of police to classify it as a murder case under Section 302 and for the investigation to be taken over by an independent team at Bukit Aman level,” he said.

Noorizwan’s younger sister, Nooranis, claimed the family had not been told of his detention and did not know where he was being held.

“For about 12 days, he was in custody, and the family did not know where he was being held,” she said.

She said the family only learned of his death during a phone call from a Bukit Aman officer on the night of Oct 1.

They still want to know why he was detained and what happened to him, she said.

FMT has contacted Cheras police chief Rosdi Daud for comment. - FMT