PETALING JAYA - A SUSPECTED thief was found dead in a police lock-up after a guard noticed the 53-year-old man lying flat beside the toilet.

The deceased has been identified as A. Gnanapragasam, a wireman who was arrested on June 10 for allegedly breaking into a house in Sungai Buloh in the early hours of the morning.

Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed said the deceased, whose body was found at around 8.05am on Sunday, had been placed in a lock-up with four others at the Damansara police station.

The guard, he said, had immediately called the ambulance.'Initial investigations have ruled out foul play as there were no visible marks or bruises on his body. But we will wait for the post mortem results from the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre before determining the cause of death,' he told reporters at the Petaling Jaya police station.

ACP Arjunaidi added that the deceased, who was from Jalan Ipoh in Kuala Lumpur, had nine criminal records, mostly involving drug-related offences, and had previously been detained at the Simpang Renggam detention centre.

It is learnt that the remand order on Gnanapragasam, who was being investigated under Section 457 of the Penal Code for breaking-in and theft, was expected to end yesterday.

However, ACP Arjunaindi de-clined to reveal if the suspect was to be charged or released or have his remand extended. Police had interrogated his cellmates, who all claimed to be sleeping at that time.

When met at the mortuary, the wife of the dead man, M. Manimatalai, 40, said she suspected foul play as when she last met him on Friday, he had a bruise on his right eye.

'I saw that he had a black eye. I was also informed that when he was brought before a Petaling Jaya magistrate for a remand order, he had apparently told the magistrate that he was being beaten and mistreated by the police while in custody,' said the mother of six.

However, ACP Arjunaidi urged all parties not to speculate on the case and allow the police to conduct a thorough investigation. The case is classified as sudden death. -- THE STAR/ANN