N.Dharmendran death: Four policemen reassigned to desk duties

Four policemen including an officer who investigated a shooting case in Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, which resulted in the death of N. Dharmendran while in police custody, have been reassigned to desk duties, said city police deputy chief SAC Datuk Amar Singh Ishar Singh.

He said they had been reassigned to desk duties at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters so as to facilitate the probe into Dharmendaran's death by officers from Bukit Aman (Federal police headquarters).

Criminal elements were suspected in the death of Dharmendran, 32, who was detained at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters lockup.

On Tuesday, Dharmendran had complained of chest pains while held at the lockup but was pronounced dead on arrival when he was brought to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

Yesterday, Bukit Aman Director of Management Datuk Mortadza Nazarene said police will be setting up a special committee headed by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar soon to look into the welfare of suspects held in lockups.

Earlier, Amar Singh had handed over a Royal Malaysia Police letter of appreciation to Constable Muhalim Osop for "keeping his cool" under extreme provocation by a group protesting the detention of a student activist in front of the Jinjang police station here on Thursday.

Muhalim, 22, from Sabah, who was on guard duty that night, was subjected to all kinds of insults from the protesters but he just went about doing his duty.

The protesters had demanded the release of student activist Adam Adli Abdul Halim who had been detained under the Sedition Act 1948 for allegedly urging the people to topple the government ala the "Arab Spring" at a forum held in the city recently.

"There was a woman among the group who claimed to be a lawyer and was pointing a finger at his (Muhalim's) face but he handled the situation very professionaly and acted wisely to calm down the protesters," Amar Singh told reporters.