PDRM confirms seven deaths in custody, no criminal elements involved

KUALA LUMPUR: The Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) has confirmed that there have been seven cases of death in police custody and investigation found that all of them did not involve criminal element.

Bukit Aman Integrity and Standards Compliance Department (JIPS) director Datuk Azri Ahmad said of the seven cases reported, four of them were deaths in lockups.

The other two cases involved death at the hospital and the way to hospital, he added.

He gave the assurance the Criminal Investigation Unit on Deaths in Custody (USJKT), set up under JIPS last January, would investigate all cases of death in police custody.

Investigation will be conducted transparently without any compromise, he told a special media conference in Bukit Aman here.

Azri said PDRM had proposed that an integrated clinic be set up at police lockups to monitor the health of those in police custody.

He said under the current PDRM Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), persons in police custody who had health problems would be referred to the nearest hospital.

-- BERNAMA