
PETALING JAYA: Police said today they thought a man who died in custody last month was believed to be a Nepali citizen named Dhan Bahadur because of the copy of the passport he produced and corroborating testimony from his roommates.
A man thought to be Bahadur was detained on May 27 and died in his cell at the Jinjang police station lock-up in Kuala Lumpur on May 31.
However, the Nepali embassy in Kuala Lumpur told FMT on Tuesday that Bahadur, who worked in Malaysia from 2015 to 2018, was alive in Nepal, after verifying the information with the local government authorities in his area.
In a statement today, Kuala Lumpur police chief Mazlan Lazim said the deceased did not have any identification documents when he was arrested.
After being brought to the Sentul police headquarters, the man handed over a copy of a Nepali passport under the name of Dhan Bahadur to the investigating officer, Mazlan said.
“The deceased only told us verbally that his name was Dhan Bahadur. The picture on the copy of the passport was the same as the deceased’s face.
“Until now, the deceased’s details and documents confirm him as Dhan Bahadur, who had lived in Malaysia for the past 12 years.
“His roommates, who were arrested along with the deceased, also testified that the deceased was named Dhan Bahadur, and all their roommates also call the deceased by the same name,” he said.
Mazlan said police sent details of the deceased to the Immigration authorities for them to review on May 28 and the results were still pending.
He also urged those with information to contact the police hotline at 03-2115 9999 or to visit the nearest police station.
Fake or not? Check our quick fake news buster here.