N. Dhamanderan’s wife, Marry Maria Susay, and family members arriving at the magistrate’s court in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Three in the dock over death of detainee N. Dhamanderan
KUALA LUMPUR: THREE policemen were yesterday charged with the murder of N. Dhamanderan, who had been held at the city police headquarters under remand for investigations into attempted murder involving firearms.
Sgt Jaffri Jaafar, 44, and Corporals Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 45, and Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 32, were jointly charged with the murder of Dhamanderan, 31, at the special investigation division on level 7 of the city police headquarters here between 12.20pm and 2.50pm on May 21.
They allegedly committed the offence with another person still at large. No plea was recorded.
Magistrate Nur A’minahtul Mardiah Md Nor set July 9 for mention pending the post-mortem and chemistry reports.
Datuk Hazwan Ahmad and Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu acted for Jaffri and Nahar respectively, whileGeethan Ram Vincent appeared for Haswadi.
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Earlier, Geethan urged the court to fix the mention as soon as possible as the accused were policemen.
Deputy public prosecutor Nithia Sivasami headed the prosecution team while N. Surendran, Latheefa Koya and M. Manoharan held a watching brief for Dhamanderan’s family.
The deceased’s wife and father were among scores of relatives who were present in the packed courtroom yesterday. Also present was Kuala Lumpur Criminal Investigation Department chief Datuk Ku Chin Wah.
It was reported that Dhamanderan, who was arrested on May 11, had suffered breathing difficulties and was sent to Kuala Lumpur Hospital, where he died on May 21..
Police initially claimed his death was due to breathing difficulties but, subsequently, classified his death as murder after the post-mortem revealed bruises all over the body.
The cause of death was determined to be "diffused soft tissue injuries due to multiple blunt force trauma".
A high-profile team, led by Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, was formed to investigate the case.
Earlier yesterday, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said he decided to proffer murder charges against the policemen based on the evidence gathered by the task force.
"The task force completed its investigation and submitted the investigation papers to the A-G's Chambers on Tuesday. Based on the evidence, I decided that the police personnel involved be charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
"Although the events are regrettable, the swift action of the police to address the death of Dhamanderan is commendable and reflects their commitment to uphold the integrity of the force."
He added that the chambers was committed to dealing with any alleged wrongdoing leading to the death of Dhamanderan, in accordance with the law.
