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JELUTONG MP RSN Rayer has challenged the police decision to investigate the death of Noorizwan Zulkefly in custody under Section 331 of the Penal Code, arguing that the case should be probed as murder despite the cause of death yet to be established in a full post-mortem report.
Noorizwan, 42, died on Oct 1 after spending almost 10 days in custody at the Cheras district police headquarters lock-up. He was reportedly found to have sustained 21 injuries.
Rayer said the investigation should instead be conducted under Section 302 of the Penal Code, which deals with murder.
Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department director Mohd Kumar said yesterday that the case was being investigated under Section 331, which concerns voluntarily causing grievous hurt to extort a confession or compel the restoration of property.
“If the full post-mortem report has yet to be obtained and the cause of death remains unknown, how can the police be so quick to classify the case under Section 331 of the Penal Code?
“The injuries sustained by the late Noorizwan clearly warrant an investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code, not Section 331,” Rayer told a press conference in Parliament today.
Lawyers representing Noorizwan’s family have also urged Attorney-General Dusuki Mokhtar to direct that the death be investigated as a murder case.
Police cite forensic findings
In a statement last night, Kumar said the decision to investigate the case under Section 331 was based on findings by the forensic medicine consultant at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz, who conducted the post-mortem.
The specialist found external injuries on several parts of Noorizwan’s body. The pattern of injuries was consistent with blunt-force trauma and not self-inflicted, Kumar said.
He added that investigations were underway to identify the police officers and personnel responsible for supervising Noorizwan during his detention at the Cheras district police headquarters lock-up.
Rayer said the investigating papers must clearly identify the officers directly involved in the case.
He also called for the suspension of those involved, particularly the investigating officer and the intelligence team assigned to question Noorizwan.
“The personnel involved in this matter must be suspended, particularly the investigating officer and the intelligence team assigned to question Noorizwan,” he said.
Family seeks answers
Bukit Aman took over the investigation after Noorizwan’s family appealed to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for intervention. Anwar subsequently directed the Inspector-General of Police to look into the case.
Before the takeover, the family had raised objections outside Bukit Aman over the handling of the case.
In a related development, Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) released photographs showing Noorizwan’s injuries.
A week later, the group said several of its legal officers were being investigated over allegations that they had pressured Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz to disclose the photographs.
Former deputy law minister Ramkarpal Singh criticised the investigation, warning that the action could be seen as an attempt to intimidate lawyers carrying out their professional duties. - October 28, 2026
