Ex-police chief's statement accepted in Kugan suit

The New Straits Times

KUALA LUMPUR: Former Selangor police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said there was no cover-up in the death of A. Kugan and that a comprehensive investigation had been conducted.

Khalid, who is now deputy inspector-general of police, told the High Court that police constable V. Navindran had been charged to demonstrate to other cops that the force and the government would not be responsible for any "private actions" in the course of official duties.

(In June, the Petaling Jaya Sessions Court sentenced Navindran to three years' jail after finding him guilty of causing hurt to Kugan, a suspect in a luxury car theft case, in an interrogation room at the Taipan USJ police station in Subang Jaya on Jan 16, 2009.)

Khalid, 55, said this in his witness statement, which was accepted by the High Court yesterday.

The senior police officer, who took the witness stand before judge Datuk V.T. Singham, signed the statement after questioning by senior federal counsel Azizan Md Arshad.

On Jan 13, N. Indra, as administrator of Kugan's estate, filed a RM100 million suit against the government for alleged negligence and breach of statutory duty.

Apart from Khalid and Navindran, former Subang Jaya district police chief Assistant Commissioner Zainal Rashid Abu Bakar is also a defendant.

Indra, 44, claimed that the defendants had failed to ensure the safety, health and welfare of Kugan while he was in police custody and failed to monitor the policemen there.

She alleged that the defendants also attempted to cover up the actual cause of Kugan's death and issued statements calculated to exonerate the police from liability.

Khalid said he had obtained information about the cause of Kugan's death from the case's investigating officer. Kugan had died of pulmonary edema (a condition caused by excess fluid in the lungs).

Indra's counsel, R. Sivarasa, will cross-examine Khalid on Dec 13. But hearing will proceed today with the other defendants testifying.