Police have arrested Wan Muhammad Azri Wan Deris, who once operated the notorious papagomo.com blog, under the Sedition Act late last night.

This was confirmed with Malaysiakini this morning by Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar.

Wan Muhammad Azri was arrested for spreading false information about the brawls that had occurred at Low Yat Plaza in the Bukit Bintang area over the weekend.

Prior to this, police arrested Malay Armed Forces Veterans Association president Mohd Ali Baharom ( photo ), also under the Sedition Act, in connection with the clashes near the mall.

More commonly known as 'Ali Tinju', Mohd Ali was detained for making a racially-charged speech outside the plaza on Sunday night.

Police so far have arrested more than 20 people over the incident.

'Divisional leader' sought

Meanwhile, at an earlier press conference this morning, Khalid also announced that police were looking for a political party leader to help in investigations.

However, he did not provide details about the leader, who he only referred to as a 'ketua bahagian' (divisional leader).

Khalid said police would also be making more arrests involving those who abused social media to incite hatred and provoke racial tensions during the Low Yat Plaza incident.

"We will arrest those who abused the social media, including a 'ketua bahagian' of a political party in Penang.

“We are currently tracking him for inciting the situation at Low Yat," he added.

Two-day remand

Meanwhile, lawyer Ahmad Shuaib Ismail, who acting for both Wan Muhammad Azri and Mohd Ali, said the two of them were being remanded for two days, till Thursday, under Section 4 (c) of Sedition Act.

"The investigation officer requested four days of remand, but the magistrate reduced it to two days."

Ahmad Shuaib said Wan Muhammad Azri and Mohd Ali surrendered themselves at Dang Wangi police headquarters.

"Ali Tinju surrendered at 2pm, while Wan Muhammad Azri surrendered at 9pm."

Both of them were arrested on the spot.

In a related development, a magistrate court gave permission for the police to remand four Low Yat traders for a day to facilitate police investigation on the Saturday brawl.

The four are being detained under Section 147 of Penal Code (Riot) and expected to be set free today, said their lawyer Eric Choo.

“The court granted for one day remand which means they should be released today.

"The police are investigating the matter, such as taking statements from the detainees," the MCA Youth professional bureau chief added.

Yesterday, the police conducted an operation in Low Yat Plaza to identify those who were involved in the brawl, which led to the arrest of the four traders.

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