JOHOR BARU: The Defence Ministry has established a committee to investigate the death of a Reserve Officer Training Unit (Palapes) trainee at the Army Combat Training Centre (Pulada) in Ulu Tiram.
Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the investigation committee includes representatives from the Higher Education Ministry and the Home Ministry.
“I was informed that a post-mortem has already been conducted, but we are still waiting for the results.
“At the Malaysian Armed Forces level, we have established a committee to investigate the cause and circumstances of the victim’s death,” he said at a press conference at the Pasir Gudang Umno division meeting.
In a statement on Friday (Aug 1), Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Yusof Othman said they have launched an investigation into the death of the 22-year-old Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Palapes trainee.
He said initial investigations revealed that the victim suddenly became disoriented while undergoing Combat Inoculation Training at Pulada in Kota Tinggi on Monday (July 28).
“Upon noticing his condition, medical officers from the military clinic rushed him to Kota Tinggi Hospital for further treatment.
“He was later pronounced dead while receiving treatment at the hospital’s emergency zone,” said Supt Yusof in the statement.
He said the victim’s body was brought to the Forensic Medicine Department at Hospital Sultan Ismail for a post-mortem examination.
In an earlier press conference in Perak, the victim’s mother reportedly urged the authorities to investigate her son’s death.
She had also lodged a police report alleging possible foul play after discovering injuries on his body.
