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Police Seek Emergency Ordinance In Malaysian State
by Kazi Mahmood for IslamOnline
SINGAPORE, March 23 (IslamOnline & New Agencies) - Local police in the state of Selangor on Friday said they were seeking to use the Emergency Ordinance (EO) law to banish people involved in attacks along Old Klang road, the site of the worst violence in Malaysia in decades.
Selangor Chief Police officer Deputy Commissioner Datuk Nik Ismail Nik Yusoff said his men are seeking the banishment of at least 35 people suspected to be involved in clashes to Simpang Renggam (detention center) for two years.
He said police were coming down hard on those involved in the attacks and would use the EO on those who could not be prosecuted in court due to lack of evidence. The police have so far refused to use the Internal Security Act (ISA) in clashes that left six dead two weeks ago.
Under the ordinance, the Home Minister can issue an order for a person to be placed under detention for up to two years with a view to preventing the person from acting in a manner prejudicial to public order, or if necessary, for the suppression of violence.
In a report released Thursday night, police said isolated attacks against individuals were registered in several areas of Selangor, most of which involved clashes between ethnic Indians and Malays.
It said that only four people were wounded as of Thursday and that the situation was under control. However, police said that when policemen were concentrated in one area, attacks would break out in another area.
Police have so far arrested 314 people, 77 of whom have since been prosecuted for various offences including participating in unlawful assembly and possession of offensive weapons.
Nik Ismail Nik Yusoff said police had information that "certain elements of people or organizations" wanted to prolong these attacks in order to create some form of instability in the country.
He declined to reveal their identities but said police had a list containing the names of individuals who could be linked to the attacks.
At present, about 1,000 policemen armed with M16s from the General Operations Force and Federal Reserve Unit are manning roadblocks and conducting patrols in villages along Old Klang Road, the Straits Times of Singapore reported Friday.
The Star in Malaysia had reported that two-parang wielding men in separate locations along Old Klang Road slashed three people and five men carrying baseball bats attacked a fourth near Kampung Medan.
Police are also monitoring "sensitive areas'' throughout Selangor, especially places where Indians are a minority, to prevent any untoward incidents.
"Besides several Indian villages along Old Klang Road, we are also monitoring areas in Klang, Shah Alam, Gombak, Kajang and Ampang," he said, adding that since March 8th, police had received 17 reports of incidents involving Malays and Indians.
"We have also stationed our men at bus stops and KTM commuter stations along Old Klang Road,'' he added.
DCP Nik Ismail said police had also identified four people linked to the transmission of an e-mail aimed at inciting racial violence.
"So far we have tracked down a man, who sent the e-mail urging recipients to attack Indians,'' he said, adding that the man, who sent the e-mail would be arrested soon under the Sedition Act.
He said that three people, who received the e-mail, would also be questioned soon.
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