GEORGE TOWN: Police have offered a viewing of CCTV recordings to the family of a man found hanged in a police lock-up in Kepala Batas near here last Friday.
Penang police chief T. Narenasegaran said the police were prepared to show the recordings of the man’s final hours while he was in the lock-up.
“The family has asked the police to investigate his death, and according to our initial investigations, the man was a suicide victim, in fact the CCTV recording in the lock-up shows him using his prison clothes to make a noose.
“If the family wants to watch the recordings, police can allow them them so that they are satisfied and see for themselves what happened while the man was in the lock-up,” he told reporters at a press conference here today.
He said a magistrate and officials of the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission have also visited the lock-up and viewed the CCTV recording of the incident as part of their investigations.
Narenasegaran said standard procedures had been followed during the man’s detention and remand process as well as the police investigation. So far, there were no criminal elements or negligence involved in the man’s death, he said.
The 29-year-old man was detained on Wednesday in Kampung Perlis, Butterworth, with a friend, 38, and was remanded for seven days from Thursday, for investigations under the Dangerous Drugs Act.
The man was placed in a lock-up with six other detainees. He was found hanged at about 4am on Friday by a detainee who woke up and informed the police. During the incident, all the other detainees in the lock-up were asleep, Narenasegaran said.
The man’s family later lodged a report asking for an investigation into his death.
RM12 million investment scan busted
In a separate matter, Narenasegaran said police had solved 44 cheating cases involving a bank investment scheme and losses amounting to more than RM12 million after detaining a former bank employee.
“The man, 38, was detained in Ipoh, Perak, after police hunted him for several months. His victims said they were promised returns of up to 8% a year but later found out that their names were not in the bank’s system or registered with the scheme,” he said.