Inmate killed in amok incident at drug rehabilitation centre

IPOH - An inmate of a drug rehabilitation centre in Padang Rengas, Kuala Kangsar is believed to have died from severe injuries sustained during an amok incident on Wednesday.

Acting Perak Police Chief Datuk Azizi Mat Aris said his department received a report from a doctor on duty at the Kuala Kangsar Hospital about the death of a 25-year-old man who was unconscious when brought in a car at 8.10pm.

"The doctor who examined the patient certified that the patient was already dead.

"The patient was brought by a religious scholar and three wardens from the rehabilitation centre and the doctor was informed that the victim had been unconscious since about 7 pm.

"The victim was then taken to the emergency department for a COVID-19 test and X-ray of the victim's whole body because there were bruises on the forehead, face, left eye, chest, both legs and hands," he said in a statement here today.

He said results of preliminary investigations involving the founder and warden of the rehabilitation centre revealed that in the afternoon of the incident the victim was talking to himself and tried to escape but was held before he tried to injure one of the wardens by using a knife and later ran amok.

According to him, the victim was successfully calmed down after a scuffle with the warden who punched the victim's body several times but at 4.45 pm, the victim tried to escape again and jumped from the stairs of the first floor of the building which is about eight metres high.

Azizi said after that, the victim's legs and hands were tied and brought to the guest room, but the victim hit his head on the floor and wall several times until he bled before the warden found the victim unconscious at 7.45 pm and took him to the hospital.

He said however, an autopsy done at Kuala Kangsar Hospital's Forensic Unit this morning revealed that the cause of death was due to chest and musculoskeletal injuries due to blunt trauma.

Following the findings, police arrested the religious scholar and three wardens, aged between 20s and 30s, to assist investigations under Section 302 of the Penal Code for murder. - BERNAMA