Man jumps to death from moving police van

Handcuffed suspect with disability died on the spot

KUALA LUMPUR: An internal police investigation will be conducted after a suspect died when he jumped out of a moving police vehicle in a bid to flee from the authorities.

The 40-year old taxi driver was arrested yesterday afternoon after various drugs were found in his possession.

After the arrest, he was transported to the police lock-up but as the van passed by a construction site near Jalan Semarak here, the suspect who was handcuffed, jumped out.

However, he fell face-first from the moving van and died on the spot. Sources said as the suspect had a disability in one of his arms, he was cuffed on the front instead of the back.

City police chief Comm Datuk Seri Mazlan Lazim said an internal investigation would be conducted on the police personnel transporting the suspect at that time.

He said the case would be investigated under Sections 223 and 224 for negligence and escaping from custody.

In an unrelated matter, police now believed that last Friday’s attack at an entertainment outlet in Jalan Klang Lama was due to jealousy over a woman.

“It is believed that jealousy was the cause which led to a show of strength. Suspects who were interrogated said that a prior fight in a pub in Cheras occurred before the attack,” Comm Mazlan said at a press conference at the state police headquarters yesterday.

“We view this matter very seriously. As of now, 14 suspects have been arrested. They are believed to be from ‘Group 21’ from Ampang.

“We are also currently looking for four men to assist in our investigations. We urge them to surrender or else we will track them down.”

One of the wanted men was confirmed by Comm Mazlan to be Datuk Seri Liow Soon Hee, who was charged with three counts of causing grievous hurt to two Rela volunteers in 2017.

“We need him to assist us because there might be some connection to the mastermind (of the attack),” he said.

Comm Mazlan said police were also investigating the possibility of a shareholder or partner to the outlet’s owner being involved in gang activities as well.

On May 3, a group of men armed with sticks went to the outlet at about 9.20pm and damaged equipment and furniture.