PETALING JAYA: A lawyer representing the families of the three men shot dead by Melaka police last month insists that marital status or previous criminal records of people linked to the case have no relevance to the incident.
Melaka police chief Dzulkhairi Mukhtar yesterday said a woman falsely claimed that one of the men shot dead by police in Durian Tunggal, Alor Gajah, last month was her husband, reported Bernama.
Dzulkhairi said the woman – who recorded an audio clip of the incident – and the man were actually in a relationship and had lived together for three years, adding that the woman had 10 records for criminal offences since 2012.
“We must put on record that this has no relevance to the shooting and killing,” lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan told FMT.
He reminded Dzulkhairi that the forensic findings, together with post-mortem reports showing downward bullet angles, pointed to an extrajudicial “execution-style” killing.
“Instead of suspending and investigating this incident before Bukit Aman took over, the Melaka police chief did nothing,” said Rajesh.
“And now he has the audacity and temerity to try and spin a different narrative by attacking the only ‘ear-witness’ to this murder?”
Melaka police had initially classified the incident as attempted murder after Dzulkhairi claimed that the trio were serial robbers who had attacked an officer with a parang.
However, lawyers representing the families of M Puspanathan, 21, T Poovaneswaran, 24, and G Logeswaran, 29, said an audio recording and forensic evidence suggested that the men were killed execution-style.
Last Sunday, Inspector-General of Police Khalid Ismail said police have received a CD which contained an audio recording believed to be that of a phone conversation between one of the men who was shot and his wife before the incident.
He pledged that police would investigate the shooting thoroughly and professionally, without compromise, to determine whether any wrongdoing had occurred.
The case has led to calls for an inquest and an independent inquiry, while Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim ordered the police to ensure the investigation was done transparently.
The IGP was also instructed to submit a detailed report to home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail once the Bukit Aman criminal investigation department had concluded its investigation.
