Home minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said the cops had referred its investigation papers to the Attorney General’s Chambers twice, first on Dec 16 and again on Dec 29.

“The case is currently under further investigation while awaiting technical reports from the relevant agencies, including forensic and ballistic reports, before a final decision is made,” he said in a written parliamentary reply.

Saifuddin sought to assure the public that the government would ensure transparency in the probe to ensure justice and preserve public trust in enforcement agencies.

He was replying to Takiyuddin Hassan (PN-Kota Bharu), who asked what steps the government had taken to ensure transparency in investigations into the shooting.

A special investigation team under the federal police’s criminal investigation department is investigating the case after it was reclassified as murder.

The trio were shot dead by Melaka police, who claimed that they were serial robbers who had attacked an officer with a parang. Melaka police initially investigated the incident for attempted murder.

However, lawyers representing the families of M Puspanathan, 21, T Poovaneswaran, 24, and G Logeswaran, 29, said an audio recording and forensic evidence suggested that the men were killed “execution-style”.

On Jan 3, the families of the three deceased men handed over a memorandum to the inspector-general of police, demanding that action be taken on the cops involved in the shooting.