GURUN: Police have ruled out foul play behind the death of a Rohingya detainee at the Temporary Immigration Detention Depot near Bandar Baharu last Wednesday.
Kedah police chief Commissioner Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad said a post-mortem examination conducted on the detainee revealed that the he had died from Covid-19 infection.
However, Wan Hassan stressed that investigations into the rioting incident was still ongoing and this includes possible elements of negligence by the depot management.
"Our investigations are taking into account all possible elements. How it happened, why it happened, who were the masterminds in the rioting element, we take into account everything and will submit the investigation papers to the Deputy Public Prosecutor's Office.
"It is up to the DPP or the state Prosecution director to decide whether it is proper to charge anyone (for negligence).
"The detainee's death was a separate matter. We have classified the case under a sudden death report (SDR) case. He had died from virus infection after contracting Covid-19," Wan Hassan told reporters after launching the state-level Op Selamat for the Hari Raya festive season at the North-South Expressway rest area in Gurun here today.
He explained that was why police had classified the case under Section 223/224 of the Penal Code for escape from confinement negligently suffered by a public servant and also under Section 147 of the Penal Code for rioting.
"We are probing from all possible angles. I have called for a meeting earlier today and we have identified a few things that need to be done and follow up actions.
"We have also recorded a statement from the depot management. If there is an element of negligence, we will zoom on to establish how bad it was but for now I can't divulge the details as investigations are still underway," he said.
In a related development, Wan Hassan said the number of escapees still at large remained at 61 as of today.
Yesterday, he was reported as saying police believed the Rohingya detainees had made their way to Seberang Perai Selatan in Penang.
In the 4am incident last Wednesday, 528 Rohingya detainees staged a riot before breaking out from the depot.
However, six of them including two children were killed when they were hit by a car while crossing the North-South Expressway near Jawi in their attempt to flee. A seventh – a 14-year-old girl – succumbed to her injuries yesterday.
Police have since recaptured over 400 of the detainees with 61 more still at large.
It was reported that several hours prior to the rioting incident, one of the detainees, in his 30s, had died in the depot.
The detainees had claimed that the camp management had failed to provide medical treatment for the sick detainee.