KOTA KINABALU: Eight prisons personnel have been detained by the police to facilitate investigation into the death of an inmate at the Kepayan Prisons.
Among those detained were seven prison wardens and a prison officer, in their 20s and 40s by the special investigation division (D9) from the Sabah police contingent (IPK) and Kota Kinabalu police contingent (IPD KK) late Wednesday.
It is learned that an inmate was found unconscious inside his cell on October 4, who was then taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital 1 (QEH I) for treatment, but was pronounced dead by doctors shortly.
Postmortem carried out on the deceased inmate found injuries on his head and body that were believed to have been inflicted by a sharp object.
Meanwhile, Kota Kinabalu police chief, ACP Habibi Majinji, confirmed the case saying that the wardens were detained to facilitate police investigation.
“They turned themselves in and have been remanded to assist police investigation,” he said.
According to Habibi, the case was initially investigated under a sudden death report, but when the postmortem result came back suggesting foul play was involved, police reclassified the case as murder.
Habibi said, the wardens, including an officer, will be remanded for seven days to facilitate investigation under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder.
The 36-year-old inmate has been in jail for two years following a drug conviction offence. Family members have lodged a police report and the deceased was said to have been buried in his hometown in Ranau.