IGP’s statement is unfair, says Adib’s family
KUALA LUMPUR: The family of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim yesterday said they have placed high hopes on the police to trace and arrest those responsible for his death two years ago.
In a statement issued through their lawyers, the family said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Abdul Hamid Bador’s statement contradicted the Coroner Court’s verdict.
They said it was unfair for Hamid to conclude that no evidence could be linked to Adib’s murder just because two firefighters who were with the victim claimed that they did not see what transpired on the night of the incident.
“This has been answered in the inquest and Hamid’s action in raising this matter shows that the police did not examine and do not understand the chronology of the incident, based on the statements recorded and evidence available.
“When Adib was pulled down and attacked, he was in a semiconscious state due to injury sustained in his ribs. It was impossible for the deceased to defend himself, thus explaining why there were no signs of self-defence injury on his body,” the statement read.
This came after Hamid’s proposal for the setting up of a review committee to probe into the sequence of events that led to the fireman’s death. The police did not have a strong case to charge anyone despite the inquest’s suggestion that Adib was the victim of a violent act.
The family stressed that the Coroner’s Court had given its input on the cause of Adib’s death and the decision had never been challenged by any party through an appeal or a valid review.
Therefore, the statement said, the police were obliged to investigate who caused his death.
Adib, 24, who was an Emergency Medical Rescue Services fireman at the Subang Jaya Fire and Rescue Department, sustained serious injuries during a riot at the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya, on Nov 27, 2018.
He succumbed to injuries at the National Heart Institute on Dec 17, after 21 days of intensive care and treatment.
On Sept 27 last year, the Shah Alam Coroner’s Court ruled that his death was the result of a violent act committed by more than two or three unknown persons.
The coroner also ordered the police to revisit the case to find new evidence that supported the coroner’s results, but to no avail.
The lawyers representing the family are Mohd Kamaruzaman A. Wahab, Ahmad Taufiq Baharum, Syazlin Mansor, Mohd Zubir Embong, Mohd Tahuddin Abd Razak, Ahmad Lutfi Awang, Mohammed Zamri Ibrahim and Yahaya Othman.