A Selangor state assemblyman today accused the police of not being honest when they claimed that they were fair in granting permits to opposition gatherings.

"The fact speaks for itself. There were at least two incidents in the past five months when applications for permits to hold dinners by DAP branches in Klang had been unjustifiably rejected by the police," said DAP assemblyman for Bandar Klang, Teng Chang Khim.

He said that it was only after his party appealed to the Selangor police chief that the permits were eventually issued.

Teng was responding to a statement by Klang police chief Karn Kam Peng who told malaysiakini yesterday that the police were "not biased" against opposition supporters.

According to Teng, it was about time that the police acted professionally in not only discharging their duties but also in making public statements.

"I did not see any honest answer in Karn's statement," he added.

On Monday, Teng complained that when Barisan Alternatif supporters held a Hari Raya open house in Jalan Kebun last Sunday, 250 FRU personnel under Karn's direction were present with water cannons and a helicopter hovering above.

He also said that applications for police permits for BA functions have been rejected by the police without reasonable cause whereas those for Barisan Nasional's functions had been approved without any fuss.

The reason for the rejections cited by the police had always been "for security reasons", said Teng.

Hari Raya invitations

Yesterday, Karn told malaysiakini that the police had been professional and unbiased when dealing with the opposition.

Karn gave an example of a Hari Raya do that the police organised on Jan 13 and said his department had extended invitations to Teng's representative and five PAS members.

Teng said he was surprised by Karn's statement because he did not receive any invitation from the police and neither had PAS.

He said that he was disappointed that the police had invited several Umno and MCA leaders but did not invite him even though he was the state assemblyman for Bandar Klang.

"Was it because the Klang police had intended to protect me from being assaulted again by Zakaria Md Deros?" asked Teng.

Last year Teng was assaulted by Zakaria, BN state assemblyman for Selat Kelang, for allegedly questioning the meaning of the words "haram" (forbidden) and "halal" (not forbidden).