‘Cops, Rela bash up innocent mechanic’
A mechanic alleged that he was assaulted and robbed by Rela personnel and policemen who wanted to force a confession out of him.
(Free Malaysia Today) – A mechanic today alleged that he was subjected to hours of torture by law enforcement officers including having a gun pointed to his head to force a confession out of him.
S Morgan, 42, was filling petrol just 200 metres from his workshop-home in Taman Balakong Jaya, when his ordeal began.
He said on Feb 16, while waiting for a customer whose car had broke down, eight men – five uniformed People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) members and three men who looked like gangsters – stopped him with the intention of searching his Nissan Sunny.
“They opened my car bonnet and said they wanted to check for drugs or illegal items. They asked why I kept all these tools in my car, and when I told them I was a mechanic, one Rela officer slapped me and all of them started assaulting me,” Morgan told a press briefing at the Human Rights Party office in Bangsar here.
Morgan said the group beat him with batons and iron rods, breaking the bone on his left leg.
“They whacked me. I screamed. They took my belt and tied my hands up and handed me to the Taming Jaya police station,” said Morgan, who is now on a wheelchair with a cast on his left leg.
While he can limp, he is still in pain as a result of being punched and kicked in the ears, head, eye, back and hip.
Morgan said the five Rela men who took him to the station accused him of various crimes. They conveyed their view to the police who appeared to believe them and tried to force a confession from Morgan.
“They said I stole cars, buses, TNB cables and was a drug addict and pusher and even involved in house breaks-in. The police also wanted me to confess to all these different crimes; it doesn’t make sense,” said Morgan.
He said at the police station, he was handcuffed and put in an interrogation room where four men continually beat, kicked and stepped on him. They also used a rubber hose to hit his legs and feet.
“Why must they do this? I told them my left leg hurts and may be broken but they continued hurting my left leg. They hit me everywhere – my head, body; I screamed ‘just kill me’ but they did not stop,” said Morgan.
Whacked for no reason
Out of the four who beat and verbally abused him, for about three hours, Morgan said he could remember the names of three – “Constable Gunalan”, “Sargeant Renga”, and “Corporal Ragu”.
“This Ragu wasn’t in uniform but he asked me if I knew a drug dealer (named) Thirumalai. But I told him I am a family man, I fix cars, I don’t do crimes, I don’t even drink,” said Morgan.
“Unhappy with my answer, he stepped on my face many times and kicked me till I fell over. He then pointed a pistol to my head and said if I did not confess, he would charge me with other car theft crimes so that he can ‘close those files’,” he said.
Morgan was then taken to the Kajang district police headquarters where a urine test showed negative. He also had no criminal records.
