The families demanded the arrest of the police officers involved; their suspension pending the ongoing murder probe; the transfer or suspension of Melaka police chief Dzulkhairi Mukhtar; an investigation into allegations that evidence was destroyed; and an investigation into allegations that false statements were made.

Lawyer Zaid Malek, representing the families, claimed the case is being treated differently from other investigations because it involves policemen accused of committing serious crimes.

He said the policemen involved were not arrested or suspended from duty despite the case being investigated for murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.

“Immediate action would have been taken if it had involved members of the public.

“However, in this case, the personnel involved are still on duty despite the fact that lives were lost,” he said at a press conference outside the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters here.

Police have submitted audio recordings related to the case to CyberSecurity Malaysia for forensic analysis.

Bernama quoted Bukit Aman criminal investigation department director M Kumar as saying that voice samples had been taken from family members who filed the complaints and from the policemen involved in the operation.

He also said the policemen involved had been removed from active duty.

The three men were shot dead by Melaka police, who claimed they were serial robbers who had attacked an officer with a parang. Melaka police initially investigated the incident for attempted murder.

Lawyers representing the families of M Puspanathan, 21, T Poovaneswaran, 24, and G Logeswaran, 29, said an audio recording and forensic evidence suggested that the men were killed “execution-style”.