For weeks, businessman M Michael and his friends have been providing food and water to a large group of Indian nationals camping in front of the Indian High Commission along Jalan Duta in Kuala Lumpur.

The group of about 70 men claim that they were shortchanged by their employers and wanted the High Commission to look into their plight.

At about 10.30pm last night, Michael and his friends prepared hot tea and coffee for the group, but unfortunately, the latter didn't get to enjoy it.

Moments after Michael arrived outside the High Commission, one Perodua Kembara bearing a 'Ikatan Relawan' logo and three trucks bearing the Home Ministry's logo appeared at the scene.

What followed was pure chaos.

"My friends and I watched in horror as more than 20 Rela personnel rushed out of the trucks and started beating up the Indian nationals for no reason," a shaken Michael said when contacted.

The Indian nationals were chased, kicked and beaten, said Michael, a businessman who does social work part-time for MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong.

"We were all too shocked to react. I heard of Rela abusing their powers before, but to see it for the first hand was scary. I am on medical leave today because my doctor has diagnosed me with high blood pressure after the incident," he adds.

Pleas ignored

His friend who was with him, SKK Naidu, when contacted, said that everything happened very fast. While some of the victims managed to escape, those who were subdued by the Rela officers were pushed in one by one into the trucks.

"There were about 60 of them, yet they were squeezed into two trucks. One person was also handcuffed," said Naidu.

He said the Rela personnel also took away the belongings of the Indian nationals and loaded it onto the third truck. This included several boxes of mineral water given by good Samaritans.

At this juncture, three officials from the High Commission tried to intervene.

"They told the Rela 'captain' that these men had passports and valid documents, but the Rela captain' ignored them," he said.

In 20 minutes, it was all over. The raiding party left nothing, except some shoes, clothing and bloodstains, all belonging to the victims.

"There was no reason for the brutality that we saw. They were forced to camp at the place. They didn't commit any crime. They just want justice," stressed Michael.