The authorities were not involved in the deaths of two migrant workers whose corpses were found in an area raided by the controversial People's Volunteer Corps (Rela) in the early hours of last Saturday.

A number of bodies were found in a small lake near the open market in Selayang Baru, which was raided by Rela at 2am on Feb 11.

According to a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) report, five bodies were dragged from the lake in the days following the raid - the first was found later on that day. Eyewitnesses said that the corpses show signs of having being beaten.

However, newly minted Natural Resources and Environment Minister Azmi Khalid - who was home minister until the cabinet reshuffle three days ago - confirmed that only two bodies were discovered and that they were not linked to the Rela raid.

Azmi's statement, which was issued after BBC had asked the ministry for clarification, firmly denied that the deaths were the result of the raid.

"At 2am on Feb 11, Rela carried out an operation to check documents of foreign workers in the open market at Selayang," it said.

"Nothing serious happened and the operation went smoothly. However many illegal immigrants were seen running away."

The ministry added that the post-mortem of the two bodies conducted by Hospital Kuala Lumpur had exonerated the Rela team.

"Based on the post-mortem report made on Feb 13, 2006, the deaths occurred about three to five days previously, meaning on Feb 10 at the latest, proving that these deaths have nothing to do with the Rela operation on Feb 11," the statement said.

BBC said that the hospital had confirmed four bodies had been taken there from the lake in Selayang.

"While they showed no signs of stab or slash wounds, a doctor said the bodies were too badly decomposed to be able to tell whether they had been beaten with batons, such as those carried by Rela volunteers," said the BBC report.

In the report, BBC spoke to Mohammad Shaiku, a Burmese with a work permit, who was working on that fateful night.

"I was inside the market," he said. "The police arrived after two that night and rounded up people. And after that some people ran off to the lake and after that I think the police beat them."

'We will kill you'

One of the bodies found at the lake was that of 29-year-old Thant Zaw Oo, the uncle of Mohammad's wife.

"It was half in the water and I saw his teeth, his two front teeth were missing". Black blood (was visible) in his mouth and on wounds on his head and neck, BBC quoted Mohamad as saying.

Zaw Oo's body was not taken to hospital for post-mortem and was buried quickly instead. However, friends produced pictures of Zaw Oo's funeral ( left ) and of another dead man, who they said was a Sikh, being pulled from the water ( below ).

Hamzan Ali Abdullah, another Burmese Muslim working at the market, told BBC that he saw the authorities arrived that night.

"Yes, we did see them and we had to run and hide very, very quickly," he said.

According to BBC, Hamzan ran out the back of the market, through a nearby street and across the road to a lake - a flooded open cast mining pit - about five minutes away at a jog.

Hamzan said he hid in the undergrowth, and in the dark, he heard screams.

"We heard they were crying in their own languages, and some in Burmese crying 'help help'."

He added: "The police were shouting: 'Come out, come out, if you run away we will kill you'.

"Those caught in their hands were beaten by two or three policemen. They treated them like cattle. Their voices were very haughty and arrogant. Their voices were like soldiers and policemen."

The use of semi-trained and unsupervised Rela volunteers in raids against illegal workers has been criticised by human rights groups. There were previous cases where Rela volunteers were accused of ill-treating illegal workers during such raids.

Baton-wielding volunteers

In a controversial move last March, the government the baton-wielding volunteer crops to help the police and immigration officers in the crackdown against illegal migrants.

Last week, members of Rela were slammed for allegedly assaulted and forced a group of men from Kota Kemuning in Shah Alam to do the 'duck walk'.

The Rela team, who were residents of a nearby village, went to a house occupied by 22 bachelors when a neighbour berated them for being noisy.

The bachelors, most of whom are technicians and contract workers of an IT company, were punched, slapped and kicked, and forced to do the 'duck walk' as a punishment.

Photos: Courtesy of BBC