Kugan's death - I was told to plead guilty, says ex-cop

Former constable V Navindran, who has been convicted of causing hurt to A Kugan, told the High Court in Kuala Lumpur today that his superior officer appointed a lawyer for him and this lawyer told him to plead guilty to the charge.

Navindran, who named the lawyer as ‘Datuk Salehuddin', said the lawyer told him that he (Salehuddin) had been appointed by his boss that he should plead guilty to the charge in the sessions court in Petaling Jaya that day three years ago.

The lawyer would then try to negotiate on the punishment.

The 32-year-old former constable, who now works as a salesman, said he and his family had not appointed any lawyer for the case when he was charged on Oct 1, 2009, and was surprised to see Salehuddin lead a team of lawyers to represent him.

The sessions court in Petaling Jaya on June 11 this year found Navindran guilty on two charges of causing hurt, resulting in the death of Kugan, a car theft suspect, at the Taipan police station in USJ-Subang Jaya on Jan 16, 2009.

He was jailed for three years on each charge, with the sentences to run concurrently. However, Navindran was allowed a stay of sentence pending appeal.

Replying during cross-examination by Sivarasa Rasiah, who is appearing for Kugan's mother N Indra, Navindran said what he had testified earlier in the day about him being made a scapegoat and details about the lawyer appointed for him were new and not raised during his criminal trial.

"(Subang Jaya) OCPD Asst Comm Zainal Rashid Abu Bakar, wanted me to be the scapegoat and he promised that he will pay the fees for the lawyers.

"Then, after some time, on Oct 1, I was told to appear in court and that was the time I met Salehuddin. I did not agree to plead guilty, and after that I appointed another lawyer to represent me," Navindran told the court.

Although Navindran did not give the full name of the lawyer at the hearing today, a search revealed that one Salehuddin Saidin appeared for the constable on the day he was charged.
‘Not an afterthought’

Kugan’s mother, N Indra, had named former Selangor police chief and present deputy inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar, Navindran, Zainal Rashid, the IGP, and the government as defendants.
Navindran, when cross-examined further by one of the government’s lawyers, senior federal counsel Azizan Md Arshad, denied that what he said in court today over being made a scapegoat and what Salehuddin had said was an afterthought.

He agreed that these matters were not brought up during his criminal trial at the defence stage, but he maintained that this was the truth.

Asked whether he had informed the lawyers representing him later in the criminal trial, Navindran said yes, but the matter was not brought up in the criminal trial.

“The claim that my testimony today is an afterthought is not true as this was how it happened with regard to my criminal case,” he said.

Navindran however, agreed with Azizan that he should have brought those matters up with Zainal Rashid and the Sessions Court, if he did not agree to being charged or contesting the charge.
How Kugan’s interrogation was conducted

Navindran also testified that Kugan had been subject to long hours of interrogation, sometimes lasting for eight hours, with little break.

He explained that he played a minor role in the interrogation where his superior Detective Corporal Awtar Singh would normally ask the questions to the car theft suspect.

Navindran admitted that the police treatment of Kugan’s interrogation seemed rather odd as there was no one particular team interrogating the suspect as according to the standard operating procedure.

“There were four or five teams interrogating Kugan between Jan 15 and the day of his death on Jan 20, 2009. At times the suspect would be given a short break to rest and at times food and water would be purchased to be given to the suspect,” he said.

Asked by Sivarasa further, when Kugan was handed under the care and control of other officers, it was written that the suspect was received well.

Quizzed further on the 45 wounds suffered by Kugan as highlighted in the second post-mortem performed on the body, Navindran said he could not explain how the wounds came about.
Lost belongings

Earlier in the day, Kugan’s mother Indra testified that there were cash and gold missing from his son, after his car was returned to the family by the police.

Indra (left) stated that RM4,000 cash was missing from the car, along with Kugan’s personal bag and another RM500 in coins.

“There was also a gold chain worn around his neck which cost RM3,000 and two gold rings which went missing. None of these gold items were found when the body was surrendered to the family at the Serdang hospital mortuary,” she said.

Indra said she was certain those belongings were either in the car or on Kugan as she had last seen them in the car a day before Kugan was arrested.

Hearing before Justice VT Singham continues on Nov 29.