PETALING JAYA, July 7: A post-mortem report from the government hospital in Melaka has indicated that the three men, G. Logeswaran, M. Puspanathan, and M. Puvaneswaran, who were shot dead in Durian Tunggal, Melaka, were shot at close range, execution style, lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan said.
“No doubts at all, the port mortem results are conclusive. The government pathologist has confirmed that the 3 victims were shot at close range and the trajectory of the bullets angling sharply downward confirm that this was an execution style killing,” he said during a press conference held by Lawyers for Liberty here today.
The report has contradicted earlier self-defence claims by the police as the forensic findings show that two of the victims suffered fatal head wounds while one was shot in the chest.
The families had to wait for a long time and were able to get the post-mortem finally for RM3,000, he said.
The police knew of the post-mortem report earlier this year and despite this, there has been no arrest so far of any of the policemen involved, he said, adding that the families of the three men were now seeking immediate action from the police.
Activist Arun Dorasamy, who was present at the press conference, also sought for an immediate action from the police, saying the families had waited long and that were seeking justice for the dead men who were all in their 20s.
An intial news report on the shooting incident last year said that the men were shot dead in an oil palm plantation by the police who claimed they acted in self-defense after one of the suspects attacked an officer with a machete.
However, their case was reclassified after a family member of one of the victims presented evidence — an audio recording of the incident – that they had been shot despite pleading for their lives. The AGC ordered the police to reclassify the probe as a murder investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
The AGC has meanwhile said that it is reviewing the investigation paper on the shootings.
–WE