BALIK PULAU, Dec 18 — Penang police have vowed that they would leave no stone unturned in the incident where a Special Branch policeman was found dead in front of a hotel in Pulau Tikus at George Town.
State police chief Datuk Seri A. Thaiveegan said he had instructed the Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID) as well as the disciplinary department to conduct a thorough and comprehensive investigation into the incident.
“We take this thing seriously and I have ordered a thorough investigation on several aspects to determine why the officer was there and who had instructed him to be there,” he told reporters here today.
Yesterday, the police were alerted on the incident by a hotel’s employee at 4.45am, after a body of a man was found lying on the road which was later identified as 47-year-old police corporal Sofian Shahari, from the Northeast District Police Headquarters’ Special Branch division.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the deceased was believed to have fallen from the hotel’s building after attending the birthday celebration of his friend, who is also a policeman attached to the Penang Police Contingent.
However, Thaiveegan had urged the public not to speculate on the matter which could lead to misinterpretation while investigation was still on-going.
He said police were also recording statement from the witnesses at the scene while waiting for the port-mortem report.
“We will inform the public on the investigation results once it is completed soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, Thaiveegan said police had submitted its investigation paper on the Oct 19 landslide at the construction site of the paired highway at Jalan Bukit Kukus to the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) for further action.
Apart from the landslide findings, he said the Penang police had also submitted the investigation report on the case where a police corporal shot dead a man who tried to attack him with a fruit knife in the incident on Nov 23 at Jalan Ria near the Tun Abdul Razak Complex (Komtar).
Earlier, prior to his retirement at the end of this month, Thaiveegan visited the southwest district police headquarters today and had a meet and greet session with most of the officers. — Bernama
