Chandran Muniandy testified that a release from the depot “did not 100% depend on the legitimacy of a detainee’s passport or visa”.

“There might be other reasons why we detain people suspected of immigration offences.”

He said investigating officers at that time might have had their own suspicions about Thomas.

“They might have needed to check on his student status to verify whether or not he was abusing his student visa. Investigators also take some time to decide on when to release a detainee – to get verification from colleges and universities or other institutions is not an easy task.

“He was sent to the depot on Friday. Saturday and Sunday were not working days. So the investigators were only able to verify with the college on Monday to see if he was really a student.”

On allegations that some officers had asked for bribes from Thomas in return for an early release, Muniandy said he was not aware of such transactions.

He said he knew that some immigration officers were being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), but that it did not involve his depot.

“There were some MACC officers who came to my depot to find out how much money was left in our safekeeping. Because aside from accepting detainees, we also separate their valuables, including money.

“At the time, the deceased had quite a large amount of cash. We separated it so we could hand it over to him if he was charged or released.

“MACC had come to ask about the remainder (of the money) and they were satisfied. That is all (that happened) at my level, but (investigations) at the operations officers’ level, I am not sure.”

He added that the remainder of Thomas’ cash, RM6,000 was passed to his wife.

Asked if Thomas was kept in detention because immigration officers wanted bribes from him, Muniandy said: “I do not agree.”

Previously, a witness, a Nigerian who was arrested with Thomas and several others on July 4 last year, had testified that Thomas paid bribes worth RM2,000 per person to three people in total to guarantee their early release from detention.

He said Thomas had about RM10,000 in cash and had handed over the remainder to the officers at Bukit Jalil after paying off an immigration officer who allegedly approached him during a pit-stop at the Duta Immigration centre.

The same witness also testified that he saw Thomas using a plastic bottle as a pillow while he was placed in a cell for sick detainees.

Muniandy today told the Coroner’s Court that only certain detainees would be supplied beds, pillows or mattresses for them to sleep on. He said this included pregnant women, old and sickly detainees and also children.

He said these groups of detainees were also separated from other detainees, and were not placed in lock-up, adding that Thomas did not fall under the category of detainees who needed sleeping items.

He added it was common not to supply the items for fear that detainees might use them as “weapons” to stir fights with other detainees or to commit suicide.

Prescribing controlled drugs

Muniandy also testified that the medical assistant (MA) stationed on-site at the Bukit Jalil depot was authorised to prescribe controlled drugs.

He said this was authorised under Regulation 23(A) of the Poisons Regulations 1952. “This is a form of authorisation, as long as he (the MA) was appointed.”

However, lawyer Rajesh Nagarajan who is acting for Thomas’ widow refuted his statement saying that Regulation 23(A) only applied to prescription of medication for outpatients, and was therefore irrelevant for immigration detainees.

Thomas’s family had filed an application for an inquest into his death as they suspected that he could have been assaulted and had been refused medication while under detention.

Thomas, who was a student at Limkokwing University, was arrested with 19 others during a raid on an apartment in Kepong.

The inquest continues on Oct 6.