The government should set up an independent committee of eminent persons to investigate the death of police detainee Kugan Ananthan, said MIC deputy president G Palanivel today.


He called for swift action to be taken on this matter because such a move would create greater transparency and accountability on the part of the government.

A move to be transparent, he said, would build back the essential confidence that the public need towards our police and their service to the country.

"The committee should be empowered to look into the entire gambit of lockup procedures and also at the close-circuit camera recordings available at lockups," he added.

Palanivel said such an investigation would help reveal what is happening or should not happen in police lockups.

The MIC leader added that as it is now, the public have little knowledge of police lockup procedures and methods of investigation.

Create public awareness

He said an independent probe, apart from much wanted transparency, would also help create public awareness on the rights of arrested or detained people.

Palanivel also lauded the move by the police and the authorities on acting quickly on the matter.

He also agreed with Bar Council chairperson Ambiga Sreenivasan that the move should not be focussed on those who demonstrated their anguish at the mortuary.

Kugan, 22, was arrested on Jan 15 in connection with several luxury car theft cases. He died on Tuesday at the Taipan police station in Subang Jaya.

Initially, the police claimed that the post-mortem report concluded that he had died due to 'liquid in the lungs'.

Following a massive public outcry, Attorney-General Abdul Gani Patail classified the case as murder.