I was informed at noon that the funeral will be held today afternoon at Kinrara, Puchong. However, the family decided to follow MIC’s Vell Paari idea to go for second post-mortem at different hospital. So, the deceased was sent to UMCC and funeral postponed to another day.

Meanwhile, both Murugiah and Devamany provided reasons for their presence at the mortuary after the police said that two deputy ministers will be questioned:

Devamany, who is also MIC treasurer-general, told Bernama the Sepang police had contacted him over the statement.

“I got a call from someone who told me about this case and hoped for my presence at the hospital where the post-mortem was conducted. It was not only to seek the truth for the family of the man but also to calm down the situation and ensure that it was under control,” he said.

Murugiah said he went to the hospital after receiving a few calls from the media about a commotion there, and that he and Devamany managed to calm the situation.

“My duty as per the Public Complaints Bureau is to check on complaints from the public. Is it an offence to address public complaints?” he said.

Murugiah also said that he had briefed Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Bernard Dompok on the suspect’s death and that the minister had agreed to raise the matter with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Malaysiakini provided a longer explanation by both the deputy ministers:

When contacted, Murugiah (centre in photo) said that Kugan’s family members had already entered the morgue by the time he arrived there.

“I got a call from the victim’s family member at nearly 11pm and I rushed to the hospital… by the time I got there the family members had already rushed into the morgue,” he said.

“The reason I went there was to calm the situation as some of them were frantic after looking at the injuries on his (Kugan) body.”

Murugiah added that he also felt intimidated when members of the victim’s family began shouting at him, blaming the government as well the police force for Kugan’s death.

He said that he went to the hospital in his capacity as the chief of Public Complaints Bureau after receiving the call that night.

“I even called the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Musa Hassan and he promised that he would investigate the matter and assist the family,” Murugiah said.

He also said that he was ready to cooperate with the police on their investigation.

Devamany: I’ll cooperate too

Devamany also said that he went to the morgue to “help the situation” after receiving calls from MIC Youth leaders.

“I went there to see how I can help the situation… these are poor people and they are not empowered enough to tackle this by themselves,” he told Malaysiakini.

Devamany said although the family members were distraught yet they listened patiently to explanation from the hospital’s director on the post-mortem.

“The director assured that they would act fairly and would present the facts accurately,” said Devamany, who is currently in his constituency Cameron Highlands to deal with a landslide problem in a Hindu cemetery there.

Asked on the police probe on him for allegedly barging into the morgue, the MIC treasurer said that he was willing to cooperate with the police “as long as justice is served”.

NST frontpaged their reasons as well:

“I have no problem giving my statement,” said Murugiah, adding that he received a call from one of Kugan’s family members at 11pm on the alleged police brutality.

He said he reached the hospital at 12.30am and was shocked to see the commotion there.

“The doors to the mortuary were open. People were surrounding the body and photographers were taking pictures.
“I was taken aback and wondered why the hospital allowed people into the area,” he said, adding that emotions were running high.

to calm the situation by calling Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, who promised that the police would investigate the matter thoroughly.

He said Kugan’s family was satisfied with the police assurance and he left the scene at 3.30am. On Wednesday, Murugiah said he met the hospital director for an explanation on why the crowd was allowed into the morgue.

“The director said they were emotional and his staff were unable to control them.”

Meanwhile, Devamany, who is currently in his constituency in Cameron Highlands, said he was willing to give his cooperation when he was back in town.

He, too, claimed he received a call from one of Kugan’s family members. He said the body was not in the mortuary, but in a room outside, where everyone was allowed to view it.

“As a representative of the MIC, I had to listen to their grievances,” he said, adding that he was there between 1am and 3.30am.

I say Devamany scored some brownie points here. This is what the public expects – service 24 hours a day. Being politician is not easy, so one should know before sinking into it.

By the way, police has confirmed that investigation will continue since there are allegations of police abuse even though the post-mortem concluded death is due to liquid in lungs.

There are more related reports at www.mpkapar.com (YB Manikavasagam’s website) as well including a theory that the police or some other big name is also involved in the car theft syndicate. All this is still hearsay without concrete evidence.