THE injuries suffered by firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim did not look like they were inflicted by rioters, said senior investigating officer ASP Liew Keng Joe.

Liew, from the Subang Jaya district police station, told the inquest into Adib’s death that his opinion was based on photographs he had seen of the victim.

Liew had been in charge of the investigation into the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple riots last November, in which Adib had been injured.

“I saw pictures of Adib’s body, and I saw that the body was swollen and there was a bruise on the right side.

“I told my superior, DSP Shan Gopal, who is the Criminal Investigation Department chief, that based on those pictures, I did not think Adib was assaulted,” he told the inquest.

“After I said that to DSP Shan Gopal, he told me that he would get an expert to perform a clinical forensic exam on Adib,” he added.

Liew said police had arrested more than 70 suspects in the case and that the investigation was divided into three phases.

“First was the riot itself. The second phase was focused on Adib and the third was on the attack on the One City building,” he said.

Liew said that on December 12 last year, he had gone to the National Heart Institute (IJN) to visit Adib. However, Adib was unable to respond to his questions.

“I tried asking Adib if he knew what had happened, whether he was attacked. He did not answer.

“A nurse asked him if he wanted to write it on the whiteboard. He refused by shaking his head,” Liew said.

Liew added the police also recorded 61 statements from the public.

“We interviewed 14 firefighters, seven doctors from the Subang Jaya Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur Hospital and IJN. Eleven police officers also had their statements recorded.

“Last but not least, we also recorded statements from 29 civilians,” Liew said.

The inquest resumes on Wednesday.

Adib had been part of a response team sent from the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Department station on November 27 to the temple area after a call was received that cars had been set on fire.

He suffered injuries during the incident and died at IJN on December 17. – April 1, 2019.