FAMILIES of the three men shot dead in Batu Arang, Rawang, in September have decided to boycott the inquest into the police shooting, claiming that they have no confidence in the probe.

Lawyer P. Uthayakumar, who is representing the families, told The Malaysian Insight that it appeared as though the purpose of the inquest is to justify the action of the police who shot dead the three men.

The families want justice for the three men and for the officers involved to be punished, said Uthayakumar.

“We don’t accept the inquest because police are probing their own men. Who will probe them if they had done something wrong? That is why we need the Independent Police Complaints of Misconduct Commission Act 2019 (IPCMC).

“Families want those who shot their sons to be charged with murder. No need for an inquest,” he told The Malaysian Insight.

Uthayakumar was commenting on the inquest which was supposed to take place last Friday at the Shah Alam court but has since been postponed to January 21.

Among the reasons it was postponed was because of incomplete case documents and no-show from the families and their lawyer.

Last September, three men allegedly involved in a gang robbery were shot dead by police at Km22, Jalan Rawang heading towards Batu Arang near Kuala Lumpur.

Police confirmed two of the men were from the notorious Gang 08.

The three were identified as Janarthanan Vijayaratnam, a British permanent resident from Sri Lanka, his brother-in-law, Thavaselvan Govindasamy, and a friend, Maghendran Santhirasegaran.

Police also said there were no records of Janarthanan entering the country but families have since provided proof of flight tickets and travel itinerary.

Janarthanan’s wife, Moganambal Govindasamy, was said to be in the car with the three men but she has not been found until today.

Police have repeatedly said Moganambal was not in the car during the incident, but families are adamant that she was in the car with the trio as they were had dined together that night.

Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid Bador suggested the inquest as there have many accusations hurled at the police.

Hamid is confident that his men followed the standard operating procedure during the incident.

Uthayakumar said police wrongdoings were clear, especially from the report lodged by one of the victims’ wife.

“The police will use the same nonsense by repeating their SOP to cover up,” he said.

“In many cases, it will be either police saw them acting suspiciously, chased them and they were shot dead. Fairy-tale SOP.

“Police never get injured and the victims will have all sorts of criminal cases for the police to justify the shooting.”

He said there is no law in the country that allows the police to shoot anyone yet to be proven guilty.

“What happened is a UK citizen was shot dead while holidaying with his family here.

“The same story is being repeated and nobody believes it. The police are just fooling the families.”

He urged the attorney-general to act against the officers who shot the three men.

Asked if it’s okay for the families not to attend the inquest, he said it’s not against the law.

“It depends on the family to attend or not to. Unless the court decided to call them (subpoena).

“For us, it’s a waste of time. Moganambal’s mother, Thanaletchumy Munusamy, is crying daily. She can no longer hold the burden of pain and sadness.

“Her daughter has gone missing while her son-in-law and son were shot dead, leaving her with five grandchildren without justice.” – December 20, 2019.