KUALA LUMPUR: Lawyers representing the families of three men shot dead by police in Durian Tunggal have demanded the immediate arrest and remand of the officers involved.
Lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan questioned why no arrests had been made despite the case being reclassified as murder.
“Not a single policeman involved in the shooting has been arrested. This is contrary to the police Standard Operating Procedure. Why the double standards?” he said before submitting a memorandum addressed to the Inspector-General of Police at Bukit Aman today.
Rajesh also questioned a police statement that the officers involved were no longer on active duty, saying this did not equate to a formal suspension.
He also called for the immediate suspension of Melaka police chief Datuk Dzulkhairi Mukhtar.
Rajesh accused the state police chief of interfering with the probe by issuing public statements despite an ongoing investigation by Bukit Aman.
Other demands in the memorandum include a probe into the involved officers for alleged evidence tampering and false reporting, citing inconsistencies between police statements and evidence gathered by the legal team.
On Nov 24, G. Logeswaran, 29, M. Puspanathan, 21, and M. Poovaneswaran, 24, were shot dead during a police operation at an oil palm plantation.
Police claimed the trio were killed after one man allegedly attacked an officer with a machete, prompting police to open fire. The families have disputed this account.
In December 2025, the Attorney-General Chambers directed that the case be reclassified as murder following police briefings and recommendations.
However, the A-GC said that the reclassification under Section 302 of the Penal Code did not mean a criminal offence had been established at this stage.
Meanwhile, Lawyers for Liberty director Zaid Malek said the case raised serious public interest concerns, particularly given transparency assurances by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
“The prime minister has said that he wants a transparent investigation and that everyone, whether police officers or others, is equal before the law,” Zaid said.
He added, however, that this did not appear to be the case when policemen were involved in alleged crimes.
© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd
