GEORGE TOWN, Dec 24 — Penang police chief Datuk Seri A. Thaiveegan said investigators are expected to complete the probe into the death of a Special Branch policeman last Monday by next week.
He said investigators have so far recorded statements from 15 witnesses and will be calling in 10 more to facilitate investigations.
“The chemist’s report and final post-mortem report are not out yet,” he said.
Thaiveegan said the five policemen detained to facilitate investigations into the case have been released.
All five had tested positive for drugs and have been transferred to report for duty at Bayan Baru centralised police lock-up.
“We will cover all angles so as not to leave room for any doubts into the case and we hope to wrap up investigations into this case by next week,” he told reporters after meeting with the Japanese Consul-General Shinichiro Kanoya at the police headquarters here.
Last Monday, Sofian Shahari was found dead at 4.45am in a parking lot in front of a building in Pulau Tikus.
The 47-year-old had suffered severe head and chest injuries consistent with a fall from a tall building.
He was reportedly at a karaoke outlet in Pulau Tikus at 12.30am with some of his colleagues to celebrate a birthday.
What transpired before he fell and from which floor he fell remain a mystery.
The police subsequently detained five policemen who were with Sofian the night he was found dead.
Earlier, the Japanese Consul-General Shinichiro handed over copies of trilingual pamphlets for Japanese tourists to refer to when they needed to lodge police reports.
Thaiveegan said the pamphlets were written in the Japanese, English and Malay languages with a clear flow chart for Japanese tourists to refer to.
“These pamphlets will be placed at all police stations in Penang so that Japanese tourists who need help can refer to it,” he said.
He said this would resolve the language barrier faced especially by Japanese who are unable to speak English and need to lodge police reports.
“They can now point to the chart in the pamphlets that has the Japanese language so that we will know what report they want to lodge. It could be lost passport, accident or theft cases,” he said.
He said the pamphlets are similar to those used in Japan for Korean visitors.
