Cops deny seeing any beatings at EAIC inquiry

PUTRAJAYA: Policemen who took the witness stand today told the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) inquiry that they did not witness any beatings in S. Balamurugan's custodial death.
ASP Harun Abu Bakar who is the officer in charge of the Bandar Baru Klang police station where Balamurugan, T. Tamilarasan and juvenile Ang Tian Kok were interrogated said he was unaware of any interrogation in the station when the trio were there.
"I came to the station after I was informed of the arrest made. When I was in the station I didn't hear or see any beatings," he told at the inquiry.
Despite his office door which was left open the whole time he was there, Harun said he didn't hear any screams of pain from alleged beatings.
"I saw three of them there. They were sleeping seated, so I shouted and woke them up. I asked them if they were okay, and they said yes. There were no visible bruises or any marks on them. Only their eyes were red, which I thought was due to the alcohol they had consumed as I could smell it on them," he said.
Lance Corporal Mohd Farid Abd Kadir who was manning the enquiry desk in the station also said he did not hear nor see any violence.
He also did not record the presence of other officers in the station that night despite the fact that there were Klang South D9 operation officers.
EAIC chairman Datuk Yaacob Md Sam asked him if he was instructed not to record the presence of the other officers or if he had any hearing problems. To both questions Mohd Farid said no.
Investigating D9 Officer, Inspector Vickneswaran Poobalan who went to the station as he was investigating a case pertaining to Tamilarasan's involvement and was informed that the suspect was apprehended, said he witnessed Klang South D9 Operation Officer, Inspector Mohaneswaran Thiagarajan raising his voice at Balamurugan, but did not see him roughing him up.
"I was leaving with Ang as he (Ang) said he would cooperate and lead us to another suspect in Banting when Balamurugan stood up and said that we can settle the matter here. Mohaneswaran shouted at him in Tamil saying that how dare he try to settle with a senior officer," Vickneswaran said.
"I was in the station for about 15-20 minutes only and left after that. I didn't see anyone being roughed up," he said.
Meanwhile, the inquiry was told that the CCTV in the station was almost a dummy - it had no recording function and it was not monitored.
Harun said it was more to remind those who were in the station that their movements were monitored and due to the lack of manpower there were no personnel monitoring the CCTV continuously.
The EAIC continued its inquiry into the death in custody of Balamurugan during the early hours of Feb 8 at the Klang North district police station.
The hearing was to identify whether or not there was any misconduct by police personnel as provided under Section 24 of the EAIC Act 2009 in handling the detainees.
A total of 55 witnesses are expected to be called to provide their statement or account on the incident.