KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — The family of the late Teoh Beng Hock has filed a fresh application seeking to compel police to open a murder investigation into his death 17 years ago.

The application for leave to commence judicial review was filed at the High Court last month, said lead counsel Ramkarpal Singh at a press conference today, according to Free Malaysia Today.

He said the family is seeking a court declaration that Teoh’s death should be investigated as murder, as well as an order compelling police to complete the investigation within 120 days of the court order.

The court has fixed May 18 for hearing, and the cause papers will be served to the Attorney General’s Chambers.

Ramkarpal said the family had previously written to police asking whether any past investigation papers on Teoh’s death were opened for murder.

He said police replied on January 20 stating that the probe was only for “wrongful confinement” under Section 342 of the Penal Code.

Co-counsel Lim Wei Jiet said the wrongful confinement probe had no connection to Teoh’s death, describing it as a minor offence.

He also said some investigation papers had been opened before 2018, but the focus of those probes remained unclear.

Teoh, an aide to then Selangor executive councillor Ean Yong Hian Wah, was found dead in July 2009 on the fifth floor of Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam, hours after being questioned at the Selangor Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission office.

An inquest returned an open verdict, but the Court of Appeal in 2014 ruled that his death was caused by “one or more unknown persons”, including MACC officers.

Two special investigation teams were set up in 2011 and 2015, but both cases were classified as no further action by the public prosecutor.

Police completed the wrongful confinement investigation last year following a court order in 2024, and the Attorney General’s Chambers later classified the case as NFA, citing insufficient evidence to prosecute any individual.