The Supreme People’s Procuracy has decided to prosecute a case relating to the death of a drug trafficking suspect who died in police custody.

Funeral arrangements are being made by Vo Tan Minh’s family. Minh died after being hospitalised for multiple injures while in police custody in Ninh Thuan Province. 

The suspect, Vo Tan Minh, 35, from Thap Cham District’s Phan Rang City, was arrested in April and held in provincial police custody in the central province of Ninh Thuan, the HCM City Phap Luat (HCM City Law) newspaper reported.

After four months of investigation, Minh was transferred to the local Phan Rang-Thap Cham Prison on September 8.

However, Minh was hospitalised on the same day after prison officials found him seriously injured. He later died.

Following an inspection and autopsy, the investigation agency suggested that prison officials might have used corporal punishment against Minh.

Five officers from Phan Rang-Thap Cham’s police department have been suspended, said Colonel Pham Huyen Ngoc, head of Ninh Thuan’s police department.

The police is continuing its investigation into the case. 

VNS