Saturday, February 20, 2010

Accused cop tells clinic of Kugan's injuries

The accused in the trial of the case of A Kugan, who died in police custody, told a clinic in person that the detainee was gravely ill, the Sessions Court was told today.

Dr Baldev Singh Gill, 43, said constable V Navindran asked him to go to the Taipan USJ police station in Subang Jaya where the detainee, who was being questioned over a car theft in January 2009, needed a treatment.

a kugan murdered assaulted indian youth"The accused looked worried and panic as if it was an emergency. I rushed to the police station," said Baldev Singh, whose clinic is about 200m away.

The doctor said he was brought to the interrogation room on the second floor of the police station where he saw the detainee was seating on the floor with his back leaning to the wall.

Baldev Singh is the second prosecution witness at the trial of a constable with the Subang USJ police station, V Navindran, 28, who was charged with causing grievous hurt to Kugan, 23, who died while in police custody.

The offences were allegedly committed at the interrogation room of the D9 office of the Taipan police station at 7am and 4pm on Jan 16.

Navindran, who is represented by PM Nagarajan, faces two alternative charges of causing hurt to Kugan at the same place and time.

Kugan was detained by the police on Jan 15 on suspicion of being involved in a car theft but died several days later.

Doc saw old wounds on ankle, forearms

Baldev Singh said he checked Kugan's pulse on the neck and wrists and there were no signs of breathing.

"I then used a torchlight to beam into his (Kugan's) eyes and there were no reactions and I also used a stethoscope to check his heart beat but there were also no signs of breathing," he added.

To a question from deputy public prosecutor Lailawati Ali whether there were injury marks on Kugan, Baldev Singh said there were old wounds on his ankle and forearms.

"After examining the victim and found out that he was already dead, I told a police officer to inform a government hospital for a post-mortem to be conducted on the detainee," added Baldev Singh.

He said however, his examination could not conclude the cause of death, instead it should be determined by a post-mortem.

The trial before judge Aslam Zainuddin was adjourned to Monday.

- Bernama