FOR POST-MORTEM: The coffin of Paw Gin Din being taken out from the tomb to Sibu Hospital’s mortuary for a post-mortem.
SIBU: The police here exhumed the body of 39-year-old man Paw Gin Bin who was initially thought to be a victim of a hit-and-run accident last September, after his family members raised doubts on the cause of his death
Their suspicions were aroused shortly after his burial when they found Paw, an odd job worker selling lottery result slips on the streets, had bought an insurance worth RM700,000 a few months earlier and named a stranger as the beneficiary.
He was found dead beside his slightly damaged bicycle on a remote road in Sibu Jaya at 6.30pm last Sept 26.
Sibu police chief ACP Shafie Ismail confirmed yesterday they had exhumed his body with a court order.
He said the police had initially classified the case as fatal hit-and-run accident under Section 41(1) of the Road Traffic Ordinance.
“If there is a suspected criminal intent, the police will definitely reopen the investigation file and start the probe from scratch as details are sketchy now.”
According to the family members, they found on Oct 24 Paw had bought the life and accident insurance when they checked with the insurance company.
Shafie confirmed Paw’s elder brother wrote to the police requesting for re-investigation and his father Paw Tan Yeu lodged a report on discovering the suspicious insurance policy.
“They wanted the re-investigation after learning the insurance amounting to RM700, 000.”
Paw’s family members said the 89-year-old father had died last Dec 1, and the matter was now being pursued by Paw’s elder brother.
Shafie said yesterday Paw’s family had initially rejected a post-mortem after the accident and quickly buried his body.
He said they then applied to the court for Paw’s body to be exhumed, and this was being arranged yesterday morning.
Paw was buried in the Kutien cemetery at Teku Road.
After his body was exhumed, the one-hour post-mortem at Sibu Hospital mortuary late yesterday morning suggested Paw’s chest had been run over by the tyre of a car, crushing it.
Meanwhile, Dudong assemblyman Yap Hoi Liong, who was at the post mortem yesterday, said Paw’s family had requested him to be their legal representative.
He called on the police to probe thoroughly should they re-open the investigation.
“The family members are worried, because the facts now have strongly suggested criminal elements.
“Among the doubts were why Paw on a bicycle would go to the remote road so far away from town and found dead there? Why was there a need for a car to speed on a secluded lane to knock Paw down so violently?
“Why was Paw there when he should have been in town selling the lottery result slips? Was it logical for the odd-job man to buy an insurance of such amount and name a beneficiary who is not a family member?”