Cops charged with Dhamendran's murder

Dhamendran's widow M. Marry (third from left), his father S. Naraiyan (left) with N. Surendren and Latheefa Koya (right) outside the Sessions Court.

KUALA LUMPUR: Three policemen have been charged in the magistrate’s court here with the murder of detainee N. Dhamendran in a lock-up.

Sjn Jaffri Jaafar, 44, Kpl Mohd Nahar Abd Rahman, 45, and Kpl Mohd Haswadi Zamri Shaari, 32 – along with another policeman still at large – are accused of colluding over the murder of Dhamendran, who was being investigated in a shooting incident.

The three, who wore black jackets and jeans, confirmed that they understood the charges, although no plea was recorded.

They are alleged to have committed the offence at Level 7 of the Special Investigation office in the Kuala Lumpur Contingent Head­quarters in Jalan Hang Tuah between 12.20pm and 2.50pm on May 21.

The trio were represented by Datuk Hazman Ahmad, Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu and Geethan Ram Vincent, respectively.

Magistrate Nur A’minatul Mardiah Md Nor fixed July 9 for mention of the case, when the chemist and post-mortem reports will be handed to the court.

The courtroom was packed with relatives of the deceased and reporters.

Lawyers N. Surendran and Latheefa Koya held a watching brief for the family of the deceased.

City CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk Ku Chin Wah was also present at the proceedings.

Confusion arose when the courtroom allocated was changed twice, with the crowds rushing to grab seats in the public gallery.

Dhamendran’s wife Marry Mariya Susay said that she was “satisfied” that the suspects had been charged.

Earlier yesterday, Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail commended the taskforce established by the Inspector-General of Police to investigate the death of Dhamendran for its swift action.

It submitted its report to the A-G’s Chambers on Monday.

“Based on the evidence gathered through the investigation, I have decided to proffer a murder charge under Section 302 of the Penal Code against the police personnel involved,” he said.

Dhamendran was found dead in his cell on May 21.

He was arrested on May 11 on suspicion of attempted murder involving firearms and remanded from May 12 until his death.

The post-mortem examination conducted at the Kuala Lumpur General Hospital on May 22 determined the cause of death to be “diffused soft tissue injuries due to multiple blunt force trauma”.