Putrajaya said an inquest will be conducted on the circumstances surrounding the death of firefighter Mohd Adib Mohd Kassim, who was said to have been assaulted by a mob during a violent protest outside the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya last month.
Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said he had been informed on the developments of the investigations into the case, which police have classified as murder.
“The police investigations through eyewitness accounts, re-enactments and the autopsy by the forensic pathologist have made some specific findings on the cause of death which can only be revealed in court in time to come,” he said in a statement.
Muhyiddin said Attorney-General Tommy Thomas had informed him that a magistrate would carry out an inquest to determine the cause of death.
Section 339 of the Criminal Procedure Code allows for the A-G to call for an inquest.
“The A-G’s office will request that the Court sets a date for the hearings soon and will assist the Magistrate in conducting the inquest.”
Muhyiddin said the magistrate has wide powers under Section 328 of the Criminal Procedure Code to state the cause of Adib’s death.
Yesterday, Deputy Health Minister Lee Boon Chye said the full post-mortem report into the cause of Adib’s death was expected to be ready in one month.
While his death has been classified as murder, some. including Jaringan Melayu Malaysia (JMM) and PAS, have accused the government of seeking to cover up the information surrounding his attack and demise.
PAS called today for a royal inquiry into Adib’s death while JMM president Datuk Azwanddin Hamzah previously sought to rally the public to storm a police station over the incident.
The rescue worker’s death has become a lightning rod for groups seeking to find a racial element in the temple riots that the authorities have repeatedly insisted was a purely criminal matter stemming from a land dispute between a developer and the temple management.