Royston Tan said his clients had informed him that all of them came down with a fever when being transferred to another police station.

“They complained about not having access to medical treatment. They suspected that they were down with dengue fever,” Tan told FMT. He said the police gave them only paracetamol tablets.

Tan said his clients were ill all the while as they went through a “chain remand”. They had been initially investigated for four days at the Serdang district police headquarters.

Serdang commercial investigations chief Haryanti Che Mat, when asked for a response, said the lawyer should contact the respective investigating officer.

The four were released on police bail on Wednesday and are expected to be charged with cheating on May 18.

“However, they were taken to Shah Alam police station for a fresh investigation into other cases.” he said.

On Thursday, the Shah Alam court dismissed the police remand application, but his clients were transferred to Gombak police station instead of being freed.

When contacted, the director of the federal integrity and standards compliance department Azri Ahmad said district police chiefs were responsible for ensuring that detainees had access to treatment.

“The police need to follow the lockup’s standard operating procedure and the responsibility is under the district police chief where the detainees are being locked up.”

FMT is awaiting a response from the Gombak police chief.