KUALA LUMPUR: The death of police detainee A. Kugan has caught the attention of Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Najib was briefed on the incident, and the controversies which arose after the youth's death, by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Senator T. Murugiah.

The deputy prime minister conveyed his condolences to Kugan's family and asked for the photographs showing the bruises on the youth's body.

"I will be handing over the photographs to the deputy prime minister soon," Murugiah said yesterday, adding that he briefed Najib over the phone.

Murugiah was speaking outside the University Malaya Medical Centre mortuary yesterday where a second post- mortem was conducted on Kugan's body.

The second post-mortem, which was demanded by the family and approved by the police, came about after Kugan's death was reclassified as a murder investigation.

To date, 11 police personnel from the Taipan police station are under investigation for the case which sparked another public outcry over yet another death of a detainee.

The death of Kugan also landed Murugiah and his colleague, Datuk S.K. Devamany, in trouble with the law after it was alleged that they were part of the group which went to the Serdang Hospital mortuary to take photographs of Kugan's body before the post- mortem was conducted.

Murugiah urged the media and the public not to blow the mortuary incident out of proportion.

"The family did not break open the door.

"They were allowed in after waiting outside the mortuary for eight hours."

Murugiah said he would also consult his lawyers about the possibility of filing a civil suit against Selangor police chief Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar, whose statement to the press implied that Murugiah had been involved in the mortuary incident.

Murugiah has since clarified that he reached the mortuary after the deceased's family were already inside the cold room.

"Khalid's statement tarnished my image. I only did what I had to do as a deputy minister.

"In fact, he (Khalid) should thank me for defusing the situation at the mortuary and preventing it from reaching boiling point, instead of blaming me."

Kugan was detained after a car chase in the Taipan area in USJ Subang Jaya on Jan 14.

He was held in remand and died on Jan 20 while being interrogated.

The family alleged police brutality after seeing the bruises on his body. They called for an investigation into the incident.

The case, which was initially classified as voluntarily causing hurt to extract a confession, was reclassified as murder by the Attorney-General's Chambers on Friday.