‘Detainee had health-related symptoms’

PETALING JAYA: Detainee S. Thanabalan, 38, had fever, abdominal pain, diarrhoea and lack of appetite four days prior to his death at the Shah Alam lock-up..

“On the night of April 17, he (the detainee) became unconscious and was immediately taken to the Shah Alam Hospital’s (HSAS) Emergency Department,” said Health Director-General Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah in a statement yesterday.

“The cause of death is still under investigation,” he said.

Checks showed that 10 detainees had also complained of various health-related symptoms at the same lock-up, said Noor Hisham.

Nine detainees had mild symptoms such as cough and cold, while the other case involved complaints of abdominal pain and diarrhoea.

Seven of them were given on-the-spot treatment at the Shah Alam central lock-up by a medical team from the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital, while three were referred to the HSAS’s Emergency Department for treatment and were later discharged.

The district health office and the Selangor Health Department are conducting prevention and control activities at the Shah Alam central lock-up.

“This includes daily health monitoring of the Shah Alam district police personnel and detainees.

“Based on the inspections, it was found that the lock-up was clean.

“The Health Ministry will continue to monitor the situation and any developments will be communicated from time to time,” Noor Hisham added.

His response came after police suspected that Thanabalan’s death could be due to a possible viral outbreak.

Selangor police chief Commissioner Datuk Mazlan Mansor had said Thanabalan, who was being held under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma), was found unconscious at the Shah Alam central lock-up at about 8.20pm on Tuesday. He was arrested for suspected involvement in notorious underworld gangs. He was detained on March 29 after sending his son to school in Kapar, Klang.

He was among the detainees held during the operations codenamed “Ops Spider” and “Ops Api Reload” under “Ops Cantas Khas”, which saw 63 gang members arrested including two key members who hold the honorific titles of datuk seri and datuk.