By Shannon Teoh-The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 28 — A huge crowd is now following A. Kugan's funeral procession from Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) under the watchful eyes of the police to the USJ 8 police station for prayers before the final rites at the Puchong Batu 14 crematorium this evening.
Police are providing an escort for the procession.
They had earlier arrested five men wearing Hindraf T-shirts as they threw a tight cordon around the medical centre for the suspected car thief's funeral. They only allowed some 50 people, including family and several lawmakers, to claim Kugan's body.
Lawyer Gobind Singh Deo said family and friends paid respects at the mortuary five at a time. Police had earlier chased away reporters and nearly 100 supporters around the mortuary waiting to pay respects.
The Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and Light Strike Force had cordoned off the teaching hospital this morning but crowds, responding to text messages, have turned up for the funeral procession. Several tried to go through the barricade but police ordered them to disperse.
Police arrested two men when the crowd were dispersing just after noon. The government had banned the Hindraf movement last year, making all its symbols illegal, after it organised a massive protest in November 2007. Five Hindraf leaders are under ISA detention.
Another two were arrested later for inciting the crowd, police said. They also wore Hindraf T-shirts.
"I don't see why anyone has been arrested. We are not here to make trouble," Gobind, who is also Puchong MP, told reporters.
"They are just here to pay last respects," said Kapar MP S. Manikavasagam, who said he will lodge a police report against Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar for making conflicting statements over Kugan's death.
Kugan, a 22-year-old insurance claims executive, was arrested on Jan 14 for allegedly being involved in a luxury car-theft ring. He died on Jan 20 after drinking some water, police claimed. An initial autopsy said he died of "fluid in the lungs".
But the Attorney-General's Chambers have classified the case as murder after an outcry by the family and lawmakers, and a second autopsy over the weekend found external injuries and phlegm in his lungs.
The family and authorities are waiting for detailed toxicological and tissue tests in the final autopsy report.
Critics have said Kugan's death is the latest in custody deaths in Malaysia, mostly among Indians detained by the police.
But Hindraf legal advisor S. Tanendran disagreed, saying it is a Malaysian issue, not a racial issue. "Deaths in detention happens to all races," he said.
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