Penang police open negligence probe after suspect falls to death while in custody
Penang police are investigating whether there was negligence among its officers when a suspect in remand fell to his death from the first floor of the Seberang Prai Utara district police headquarters yesterday.
Penang police chief Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said police inquiry papers had been opened to probe into whether there was possible negligence.
He said there would be no compromise if his officers were found to be negligent in the incident, promising that stern action would be taken.
"I was at the scene. The standard operating procedures (SOP) were fully followed by my officers when they were taking the suspect's statement.
"But we have still opened the inquiry papers to look into the incident," he told reporters this morning.
The suspect, whom Rahim identified as Tee Ming Hua, 56, from Selangor, was being questioned at the commercial crime division office at the district police headquarters in Kepala Batas, yesterday, when he sprang up suddenly and ran out of the room.
Tee, who was handcuffed, then jumped off the first floor and died of severe head injuries.
Rahim said yesterday that his officers could not stop the man because the incident had happened very quickly.
"The man was being investigated under Section 420 of the Penal Code for cheating," he said.
Meanwhile, Rahim also commented on a cheating case involving gold bars worth over RM4 million that was yesterday highlighted by Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng.
Rahim said the police had received 18 reports on the matter so far.
Investigations were 70% complete, Rahim said, and must be finished before police could send it to the prosecutor.
"We have recorded the statements of 12 people, including the complainants. We still need to talk to more people.
"We haven't made any arrests but we have since confiscated over 100 cheques," he said, adding that the case was also being probed under Section 420 of the Penal Code.
Lim had yesterday urged the police to speed up its investigations into the case and take swift action against the man who allegedly cheated a group of people who wanted to sell off their gold bars for a good deal.
The alleged suspect, whom Lim said was also an Umno member and one of the people who trespassed into the state assembly building in May this year, had offered to buy the gold bars above market price.
He was to pay the group a total of RM4,946,960 via postdated cheques for gold bars weighing 16,635 grammes.
However, the group only managed to cash in a total of RM710,349. The subsequent postdated cheques for RM1,570,161 bounced while the remaining RM2,665,108 was in cheques that have not been cashed in.
The man allegedly failed to pay the group the remaining RM4,235,269 since their transactions last year. The group then lodged their reports against him in June this year when the postdated cheques matured. – September 29, 2014.
