3 policemen charged with murder of Dharmendran

Three policemen who allegedly caused the death-in-custody of N. Dharmendran, were charged with murder at a Majistrate's court here, today.

Sergeant Jaffri Jaafar, 44, corporal Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 45, and corporal Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 32, were charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code which carries a mandatory death sentence upon conviction.

No plea was recorded from the accused, who were represented by Datuk Hazman Ahmad, Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu and Geethan Ram Vincent.

Another accused whose identity was not revealed, is still at large.

Magistrate Nur A'minatul Mardiah Md Nor fixed July 9 for mention, pending the completion of the chemical and post-mortem report.

Earlier today, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail, said the decision to charge the policeman was made after a report on the investigation of the detainee's death was sent to his office yesterday.

He had said the investigation was carried out by a special team.

Abdul Gani said although he regretted the incident, he praised the police for the quick action taken to investigate the case.

This reflected the commitment of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) in upholding the integrity of the force, he added.

Dharmendran, 31, died in the cell of his lockup at the D9 branch of the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters last May 21 while in remand for attempted murder.

The remand order was for 10 days from May 12.

Abdul Ghani said based on a post-mortem conducted by the Kuala Lumpur Hospital on May 22, Dharmendran died due to diffused soft tissue injuries caused by multiple blunt force trauma.

"The Attorney-General Chambers views seriously the latest incident on the death of detainee while being detained by an enforcement agency and is committed to address any form of abuse that caused Dharmendran's death," he added.