A Penang municipal councillor has issued an ultimatum to state MIC Youth chief J Dhinagaran to retract his allegations of graft against him and two colleagues within three days, or face legal action.

NONE "I hereby demand Dhinagaran ( right ) produces proof of the allegations within three days (from Sunday), failing which he will have to retract the allegations and issue a public apology to the councillors," Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) councillor Ong Ah Teong said.

"In the event he refuses, neglects and or fails to conform (to the demand) as required, I will hand over this matter to my legal adviser (Dato Keramat assemblyperson Jagdeep Singh Deo) for possible legal action against him or the party involved."

Ong, who heads the MPPP's licensing department, said Dhinagaran's allegation of graft involving the councillor and a businesswoman "is unfounded as well as defamatory in nature".

He wants Dhinagaran to lodge a police report against the parties involved and let the police investigate the matter.

Last Friday, Dhinagaran had urged the police to probe the accusations featured in an obscure Chinese-language blog, which featured photographs of three municipal councillors - Ong, Tahir Jalaluddin and Prem Anand - but did not  say who allegedly took the bribe.

The three councillors have denied the allegations and have since lodged a police report against the blog that posted the contentious article on Dec 21.

However, Dhinagaran claimed that a businesswoman consulted him on the case and he learned that she paid a councillor RM25,000 to secure a licence.

NONE The woman - a widow with grown-up children - was running a recycling business in a residential area, which is not permitted by the council.

Dhinagaran wants the alleged receiver of the bribe to return the money to the woman and "negotiate" with her on how to resolve her licensing problem.

However, the trio and their lawyer Jagdeep ( left ) insist that Dhinagaran must lodge a police report if he has the evidence so that the police could launch a thorough investigation into the matter.

"Making such unfounded allegations to the press without any supporting documents or proof is purely politically-motivated and is meant to tarnish the reputation of the MPPP councillors," Ong said.

"I challenge Dhinagaran to specifically name the councillor(s) involved and produce proof of the allegations instead of merely displaying the councillors photographs at the press conference."

'No retraction'

When contacted, George Town OCPD Gan Kong Meng said his team is awaiting a report from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to help identify the individual behind the blog post.

The case is being investigated under Section 500 of the Penal Code for criminal defamation, Gan said, and added that "so far there is no new development in the case".

When contacted, Dhinagaran said he would not comply with the councillors' demands.

"No way will I retract my statement or apologise. If they are not happy, please sue me," he said.

"I have given them seven days to deal with the matter, after which I will show proof. If the councillor concerned thinks he has resolved the matter with the woman, he should now resign from his post."

Dhinagaran said that there is no point threatening him over the issue as the party must do its own homework according to the CAT (competency, accountability and transparency) principles to seek out the culprit who allegedly accepted the bribe.

He questioned why the trio is not holding a joint press conference to deny his allegations if they are not involved.

The three councillors, accompanied by Jagdeep, had jointly issued a denial in the press last month.