Police called us only after he died

FOR six days after Mr A Kugan disappeared, his family searched high and low in vain for him. On the sixth day, a police car pulled up in front of a relative's home in Puchong, Selangor and officers told the family that Mr Kugan, a 22-year-old odd-job worker, had died in police custody.

The Indian man, who went missing on 14 Jan, was the latest suspect to die while in police detention.

The police had initially said that Mr Kugan died of a heart attack while he was being questioned for an alleged car theft, but Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail said yesterday that the case has been re-classified as murder as there were bruises on the body.

As a result, 11 policemen involved in the case have been redeployed while investigations are going on, reported Sin Chew Daily.

Mr Kugan's father, Mr G Sandaran, lamented to news portal Malaysiakini, yesterday: 'Why? Why couldn't they just call us when he was arrested? But when he died, they seemed to know how to find our house.'

Relatives said they last saw Mr Kugan on 14 Jan at about 7pm.

His aunt, Ms S Renuga, 31, recalled that she got an anonymous call about his arrest that evening, but details were sketchy. [read more]

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