Inquest into Batu Arang shootout a waste of time, says lawyer

Uthayakumar Ponnusamy

The lawyer representing the families of the three men killed in the recent Batu Arang shootout has dismissed Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador’s order for an inquest into the shooting, calling it an “eyewash”.P Uthayakumar told FMT there had been no inquest so far that had led to the prosecution of any policeman for deaths caused.“I’ve attended some inquests. The whole thing, I can feel, I can sense, I know as an experienced lawyer, is a cover-up for the police.“As for the attorney-general, there’s a police report against the police for murder. You charge these Special Action Unit (UTK) members who killed these people. Only then will this whole thing stop,” he said.(Freemalaysiatoday 21.9.19)

The lawyer representing the families of the three men killed in the recent Batu Arang shootout has dismissed Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador’s order for an inquest into the shooting, calling it an “eyewash”.

P Uthayakumar told FMT there had been no inquest so far that had led to the prosecution of any policeman for deaths caused.

“I’ve attended some inquests. The whole thing, I can feel, I can sense, I know as an experienced lawyer, is a cover-up for the police.

“As for the attorney-general, there’s a police report against the police for murder. You charge these Special Action Unit (UTK) members who killed these people. Only then will this whole thing stop,” he said.

Lawyer P Uthayakumar.
Uthayakumar then urged the authorities to give him the powers of a “special counsel”, saying he will then produce the evidence against the policemen involved.

“Like Robert Mueller in the US; like Sulaiman Abdullah or Gopal Sri Ram, give me a fiat and I will do the job. I will do it,” he said.

“Give me the power to investigate. I will produce the evidence.”

Police said a shootout occurred on Sept 14 when a police patrol ordered a car carrying three men – Sri Lankan national Janarthanan Vijayaratnam, his brother-in-law Thavaselvan and Maghendran Santhirasegaran – to pull over at Bandar Country Homes.

According to police, the men, however, refused to comply with the police order to pull over.

A 7km chase ensued and police were fired upon. Police returned fire and the three men were killed.

Relatives claim Moganambal Govindasamy was with her husband, Janarthanan Vijayaratnam, when he was shot dead by police on Saturday. Police have denied this.
Police said Thavaselvan and Maghendran were wanted members of the 08 gang in Rawang, while Janarthanan had overstayed his visa.

Relatives of the men shot dead have asked police to publish footage from their dashboard cameras on the police patrol car to set the record straight as to what happened.

Relatives claim Janarthanan’s wife, Moganambal Govindasamy, was missing after the shooting. However, Selangor police chief Noor Azam Jamaluddin said there was no woman in the car.

PSM: Bukit Aman must take over Rawang shootout probe

Source: Malaysiakini

In light of concerns over the Selangor police’s handling of a recent shooting in Rawang, PSM has urged Bukit Aman to take over investigations.

Its deputy chairperson S Arutchelvan believed that the public had lost confidence in the Selangor police after the families of the shootout victims came forward to challenge the official version of events.

Selangor police chief Noor Azam Jamaludin previously said that his force had engaged in a shootout with three suspected robbers before killing them on Sept 14. He said that guns, machetes and face masks were found in the victims’ vehicle.

Arutchelvan regarded this as the “standard police response” for shootings and pressed Bukit Aman to uncover the truth in this case.

“At this stage, what is more crucial is for Bukit Aman to take over the case completely from the Selangor contingent because the statement made by the state police chief seems to be lopsided and hazy.

“He (Noor Azam) was too quick to come out with the standard police response but his version does not seem to collaborate with evidence [...],” he said in a statement.

“Our job would be easy if we had an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) with power but for now, we have to rely on Bukit Aman’s goodwill to be neutral and independent to investigate evidence [...],” he added.

The three killed were S Mahendran, 23, G Thavaselvan, 31, and Sri Lankan national V Janarthanan, 40. A fourth person - G Moganambal, 35 - was said to be at the scene but she is now missing. She is Janarthanan’s wife and Thavaselvan’s sister.

Their families claim that the four had gone out for dinner in Serdang before they were “kidnapped” and shot at by police in Batu Arang, Rawang.

Two versions of events

Police have characterised Thavaselvan and Mahendran as triad members. They said the former previously served jail time and had 23 criminal records, while Mahendran was previously involved in a Sentul robbery.

As for Janarthanan, police said he was involved in a Sentul robbery back in 2016 and found no records of him entering the country.

Yesterday, Janarthanan’s kin stated that he was a UK permanent resident who had been living and working in Portsmouth with wife Moganambal and their three children for the whole of 2016.

They also produced flight details and baggage tags that showed he and his family had departed from London on Aug 26 this year and arrived at KLIA the next day. Their return flights were planned for Sept 23.

Their lawyers accused Selangor police of tampering with Janarthanan’s immigration records and demanded for dashboard camera footage from the police vehicles to set the record straight.

Probe video

In his statement, Arutchelvan welcomed Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador’s statement that an inquest will be held into the shooting.

However, he urged Bukit Aman to probe allegations contained in a newly surfaced video featuring a man claiming to be the father of Thavaselvan and Moganambal.

“Police must immediately investigate the content of the video and other information which has now appeared in the video,” he said.

Among the claims made in the video are that the four were assaulted before they were “executed”. The man also demands that police reveal their post-mortem report.

Malaysiakini is contacting Selangor police and Bukit Aman about the video.

Criminologist: Police have no general license to kill

Controversy surrounding the shooting incident in Batu Arang, Rawang, continues to hound the police who had claimed the two dead men were members of the Gang 08 triad.

Criminologist and law lecturer Shamsher Thind Singh said there is no "general licence to kill" given to any police officer even if the suspects were gangsters or triad members.

"Every person is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction," said Shamsher, who obtained a PhD for criminology studies in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang.

"Article 5(1) of the Federal Constitution guarantees the right to life of every person in this country," he told Malaysiakini.

Shamsher said it would be premature to make any comments pending the investigation by the authorities.

"However, I wish to share my understanding with the general public about the police power to cause death in the course of making an arrest," he said.

"Firstly, there is no general licence to kill given to any police officer.

"Be that as it may, the constitutional right to life is not absolute, and the Parliament allows the killing of any person under certain limited circumstances," he explained.

"One such situation is the oft-quoted right to self-defence."

Limits to 'self-defence'

According to section 100(a) of the Penal Code, any person (including a police officer) whose life is endangered by any other person may resort to the right of self-defence and cause the voluntary death of that other person.

"However, section 99(4) of the Penal Code provides a limitation, that is to say, the right to self-defence fails in the event more than necessary harm has been used," Shamsher pointed out.

He cited a previous shooting incident, saying now is a good time to revisit the case of Aminulrasyid Amzah, who was fatally shot by the police in 2010 when the 14-year old deceased, who was driving a vehicle at the time, failed to stop when ordered so.

Shamsher noted that the Court of Appeal was of the opinion that, "On the totality of the evidence, the action of the first defendant in firing the fatal shot which resulted in the death of the deceased was clearly unwarranted, unreasonable and unjustified."

He said for the sake of completeness, Section 15(3), read together with Section 15(2), of the Criminal Procedure Code allows a police officer to cause the death to any person who was resisting or evading an arrest.

However, this is allowed provided that the said person is accused of an offence punishable with the death penalty or life imprisonment, and that the force used to kill him was necessary for the arrest, Shamsher added.

"This right has a very limited application and as such rarely invoked by the police," he stressed.

Cops urged to come clean

Last Saturday, Selangor police chief Noor Azam Jamaludin said three men, believed to have been involved an armed robbery, were killed during an exchange of fire, and a search of their vehicle found two semi-automatic handguns, three machetes and face masks.

On Sept 6, the family of the two dead men demanded answers from police on what had transpired during the shooting incident.

They also urged police to come clean on the fate of the wife of one of the deceased who is now missing.

The family said they were puzzled with police's statement that the duo (G Thavaselvan and V Janarthanan), who were in-laws, and their friend (S Maghendran) all of whom police shot dead in the incident, were suspected members of a home invasion gang.