Banting murders: Convict's dad says cops duped him

By G Vinod - Free Malaysia Today

KUALA LUMPUR: The father of one of the youths sentenced in connection with the murder of cosmetics millionairess Sosilawati Lawiya and three others claimed that the police duped him and his son.

K Sarawanan, 19, was sentenced to seven years in jail after pleading guilty to disposing of evidence pertaining to the quadruple murders.

However, his father N Kandasamy filed a report with the Dang Wangi police headquarters here this morning claiming that he was misled over his son's legal representation.

He told FMT that the lawyers who represented his son when Sarawanan was convicted on Oct 15 were not hired by him. He had engaged the services of another lawyer, AS Dhaliwal, on Oct 5.

“In fact, Dhaliwal was present with my son when he was remanded on Oct 9,” he said.

The plantation worker said he suspected something was amiss when he was asked to sign a document at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters early this month.

“On Oct 11, I was asked by the police to sign a form. As I was illiterate and could not understand the content, a detective by the name of Sri Hari explained to me that my son will be released from custody if I signed it,” he said, adding that he subsequently inked the document.

When his son was brought to the Banting magistrate's court on Oct 15, Kandasamy said he was surprised when lawyers M Puravelan and Rosli Sulle came forward to represent Sarawanan despite Dhaliwal being present.

“I knew nothing of these lawyers,” said Kandasamy.

He claimed that Puravelan and Rosli told his son to nod to whatever was said in court and also assured him of his release.

'Son says he was promised freedom'

Following this, Kandasamy said he met his son at the Malacca prison on Oct 17 to find out what happened.

“My son said he was promised freedom if he appointed the lawyers recommended by the police,” claimed the distraught father.

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the case confirmed that Kandasamy had signed a document at the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters, effectively handing over his son's representation to Puravelan's AR Yahya & Co and Roslie's Sulle & Co.

The source, who claimed that there was “malicious intent” on the part of the police, said that Kandasamy would highlight the matter tomorrow when the Shah Alam High Court conducts a revision of the case.

Sarawanan, who worked as a mechanic, has since filed an appeal against the sentence. Also sentenced to seven years for the same offence was 26-year-old odd-job worker U Suresh.