KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 22 ― The police insisted today that a doctor was to blame for rousing suspicion by running away during a raid against suspected robbers near Serdang Hospital that left him injured.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar questioned why Dr Thanendran Renganathan was the only one to run during the October 7 raid at a food stall near the hospital when a surgeon, customers and workers at the food stall that numbered about 10 people did not do so.
“It’s clear that they knew that a police operation was happening, based on the shouts of “Police!” by the police, as well as the bulletproof vests emblazoned with the words “Polis” and “Stafoc” worn by the police during the raid,” Khalid said in a statement.
“What’s clear from the incident is that Dr Thanendran Renganathan’s own actions had roused the suspicion of the police who were dealing with dangerous criminals. In fact, Dr Thanendran Renganathan shouldn’t have been nervous in facing such situations when his father is a cop and his in-law was a former senior police officer,” the IGP added.
The national police chief denied that the police had kicked the Serdang Hospital doctor, claiming that the latter had said himself in his medical report that he stumbled, slipped and fell in front of the hospital lobby.
“During the arrest, he was still resisting so the police had to cuff him,” said Khalid.
He added that police officers could not see Dr Thanendran’s stethoscope or hospital scrubs because he was in front of them during the raid.
“In fact, when he fell, the stethoscope was no longer around his neck, but it was found almost three metres from where he fell,” said Khalid.
He also said Dr Thanendran was treated well at the Sri Serdang police station as he was placed in the air-conditioned triage room and his requests for medical treatment were not denied.
“It’s disappointing to hear that the subject was said to be mistreated when the police officials and officers involved in this ‘Op Tajam’ had performed their duty according to standard operating procedure (SOP),” said Khalid.
The Malay Mail reported Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam as saying recently that the doctor had been treated in an unnecessarily rough manner and that the police should have tried to verify Dr Thanendran’s identity.
