KLANG: A 31-year-old police inspector was charged at the magistrate's court here today with injuring an inmate in police custody.
Inspector T. Mohaneswaran was charged with intentionally causing hurt to S. Balamurugan, 44, at the Bandar Baru Klang police station between 7pm to 9.13pm on Feb 6 to obtain his confession over a case.
He was charged under Section 330 of the Penal Code, which carries a maximum seven years' jail sentence and a fine, if convicted.
Mohaneswaran, who is attached with the South Klang police station, remained calm when he was produced before magistrate Rozianti Mohamed Hanaphi.
He pleaded not guilty and appealed for the RM3,000 bail amount to be reduced, citing he earned RM3,600 in salary and have only RM2,000 in savings.
Lawyer V. Rajehgopal represented Mohaneswaran, while the deputy public prosecutor was G. Saraswathy.
Rozianti later fixed Nov 16 for mention and set bail at RM1,200 with one surety.
Earlier, some 40 policemen, in civilian clothes, cheered and offered support to Mohaneswaran as he walked into the courtroom.
Balamurugan was arrested and taken to Bandar Baru Klang station on Feb 6 for alleged robbery. He was then taken to the North Klang police station for further investigation.
Balamurugan's case was investigated under Section 395/397 of the Penal Code for gang robbery and armed robbery.
He was found dead in the North Klang police station lock-up at 6am on Feb 8.
It was reported that the victims's mouth was bleeding and he had vomited blood when he was taken to the magistrate’s court for remand hearing on Feb 7.
It was also reported that although the family members have asked for an urgent treatment for the victim at the hospital, Balamurugan was still taken to the detention.
Initial post mortem by Dr Kartini Md Ariff at Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah in Klang revealed that Balamurugan could have died from a heart attack.
However, the deceased’s next-of-kin were unhappy with the results and requested for a second postmortem.
Forensic Medicine consultant Dr Siew Sheue Feng, who performed the second postmortem on Balamurugan at Hospital Kuala Lumpur was reported as saying that the 20 injuries on Balamurugan’s abdomen, head and limbs were due to blunt force trauma and done with the intention to cause pain.