Stolen jet engines: Father blames ‘powerful people’, son beaten like a cow
(Malaysia Mirror) – The family of Royal Malaysian Air Force Sergeant N. Tharmendran, who is accused of stealing two jet engines, said powerful people are guilty of the crime but have pinned it on him.
N. Nagarajah, Tharmendran’s father on Thursday, said senior RMAF officers had beaten a confession out of him in order to make him a scapegoat.
He also said that there was “no way that one person could have stolen the two engines by himself” and alleged that high-ranking RMAF people were involved in the disappearance of the jet engines which are now reportedly in Uruguay.
He also claimed that equipment and spare parts related to the engines were missing but this had not been reported.
Nagarajah filed a police report yesterday, accompanied by lawyer N. Surendran, Teluk Intan MP M. Manoharan and Kapar MP S. Manickavasagam.
On Jan 6, Tharmendran was charged in court with stealing the two F5E jet engines in Dec 2007 at the Sg Besi RMAF airbase and businessman K. Rajandran Prasad was charged with helping him to dispose off the engines on April 30, 2008.
Another RMAF personnel Mohamad Shukri Mohd Yusop was charged with abetting Tharmendran in the theft.
Rajandran is out on bail but Tharmendran was unable to come up with the RM150,000 bail and has been in detention for the last six months.
Their trial is due to start on July 19.
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Dad: Son ‘beaten like a cow,’ framed of engine theft
(Malaysiakini) – The father of Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) sergeant N Tharmendran today alleged that his son was tortured into confessing to the theft of two jet engines while under remand.
“They beat him like a cow,” said N Nagarajah, 71, after lodging a police report on the matter at the Brickfields police headquarters today.
Nagarajah was accompanied by human rights lawyer N Surendran and three PR members of parliament – DAP’s M Manogaran (Teluk Intan) and PKR’s S Manikavasagam (Kapar) and Low Gwo Burne (Kelana Jaya).
Nagarajah (left) claimed that two RMAF officers, a Major Azam and a Major Ismail, had beaten and mistreated his son over a period of nearly three weeks from July 2 to 17 last year.
He claimed that Major Ismail made Tharmendran wear a crash helmet, which he then proceeded to hit repeatedly using alternatly a golf club and a cricket bat.
Nagarajah said Major Ismail told his son that he had written the names of all those he had tortured , including Tharmendaran’s on the crash helmet
Nagarajah also claimed that his son was stripped to his underwear in a room where the air-conditioning was going full-blast, and that he was not allowed to sleep, with regular interrogations after midnight.
“All the time, they kept asking him to confess he had stolen the two F5E fighter jet engines from Sg Besi TUDM Base.
“Major Ismail also threatened to shoot my son and (co-accused) Rajandran Prasad,” he said in his report.
Nagarajah also alleged that the officers had told Tharmendran, who is currently under remand at the Sungai Buloh prison, to also confess to stealing other airplane spare parts and air force property.
Surendran, acting as lead counsel for Tharmendran and his family, claimed the Attorney-General was fully aware of the torture and yet proceeded to charge him with the theft of the jet engines.
“The fact that he was tortured to confess suggests that he is not guilty. Why is it that an armed forces personnel can be tortured severely on a military base?,” he asked.
