The arrest was made at Jalan Batu Belah in Klang on Feb 6 this year.
The first witness, Lance Corporal Anwar Nyat, told a public hearing here that around 6.30pm on Feb 6, he and his colleague, Mohamad Sabri Abu Bakar, were out patrolling along Jalan Batu Belah.
They spotted a Perdana V6, the same car as described in their WhatsApp group on those suspected of crimes.
“There was a brief chase and we managed to stop the car with three people inside.
“The driver was Taminarasan. Balamurugan was sitting beside him while Ang was seated behind. I asked the driver to come out of the car. They cooperated with police.
“But the driver and Ang did not have their ICs with them. Only Balamurugan had his IC with him.”
He said he had not informed them of the arrest charge or written down the arrest in his pocket book, a book to jot down any arrest made.
He did not ask for Ang’s age and was not aware that Ang was below 16 years old.
He said he had not followed the SOP as he was not aware of it.
He was giving evidence at a public hearing conducted by the Enforcement Agency Integrity Commission (EAIC) at its office here over the death of Balamurugan, 44, in a police lock-up. The hearing is chaired by EAIC chairman Yaacob Md Sam.
Balamurugan was confirmed dead at 12.15am on Feb 8 at the Klang Utara police station.
Anwar, 26, has been attached to the Motorcycle Patrol Unit (URB) from the police station for the past three years.
He was on duty with his colleague, Mohamad Sabri.
He said other than arresting the three, he had checked the suspect’s silver Perdana and found an 18cm knife.
He then requested for backup and a patrol car to take the handcuffed Taminarasan and Ang to the Bandar Baru Klang police station.
“Balamurugan was taken to the station in the Perdana, accompanied by two other officers. Sabri and I rode our motorcycles to Bandar Baru Klang police station,” said Anwar.
They reached Bandar Baru Klang police station at about 7.30pm, he said.
Once at the police station, Anwar said he and Sabri conducted further checks on the car. They confiscated a fake road tax on the Perdana and three mobile phones. They also found that the car’s road tax had expired.
Anwar added that Taminarasan and Balamurugan were smelling of liquor.
The second witness, Sabri, said he too did not follow the SOP.
He acknowledged that he was supposed to jot down the arrest in his pocket book.
Instead, it was Inspector Vicknesswaran from the Serious Crime Unit of the Klang district police station who wrote in Sabri’s pocket book of the arrest at 8pm, and that he was taking Ang to Banting.
On Feb 11, three days after Balamurugan’s death, Klang Utara police chief ACP Mohd Yusoff Mamat said more than 10 policemen at the Klang Utara district police headquarters were under investigation.
Yusoff added that none of the policemen had been suspended as investigations were ongoing.
The hearing continues tomorrow.