Another man dies in police custody

HULU SELANGOR: Barely two weeks after a man died in police custody at the North Klang police headquarters, another man died at the Bukit Sentosa lock-up here on Saturday.
Hulu Selangor district police chief Supt R. Supramaniam said the policeman in charge of the lock-up found Thanaseelan Muniandy, 43, unconscious in his cell about 1.50am on Saturday and alerted the officer at the information counter at the Bukit Sentosa station.
"Upon alerting the policeman in charge, we contacted Hospital Kuala Kubu Baru for further assistance.
"An ambulance arrived and medical personnel pronounced him dead at the scene," he told theSun when contacted.
The deceased was sent to the same hospital for a post-mortem which is scheduled to be held on Monday.
Supramaniam said Thanaseelan was under court remand from Feb 22 until Feb 25 for house break-in cases.
"Initially, he was referred to Hospital Kuala Kubu Baru on Friday after complaining of stomach pains where he was given treatment," Supramaniam added.
The case has been classified as sudden death.
On Feb 7, in a similar case, S. Balamurugan, 44, died at the North Klang police headquarters.
He had earlier been taken to a magistrate's court to be remanded, which was denied after the magistrate saw him vomit blood.
The court then ordered that Balamurugan be taken to a hospital or released but investigators took him to the police headquarters where he died.
Lawyers N. Surendran and Latheefa Koya said that a second autopsy conducted at Hospital Kuala Lumpur (HKL) revealed that Balamurugan had died from "coronary artery disease with multiple blunt force injuries".
Last week, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said police have started an investigation for the wrongful confinement of persons against investigating officers who failed to follow a court order to release Balamurugan.
He added police will seek more details from the doctor who carried out a second post-mortem on Balamurugan.