More than 250 Indian nationals have cried foul over their arrest by the police yesterday during a search for illegal immigrants, claiming that they were not given time to show their documents before being taken in.

The Indian nationals, among them information technology professionals and lecturers who work in the Multimedia Super Corridor, were picked up from the Palm Court Condominium in Brickfields in a dawn swoop.

"Police just picked up every Indian in that condominium. They were not given time to produce their documents - even though all of them possess valid residency papers and working permits," said Indian High Commission administration, political and information first secretary V Mahalingam today.

He also alleged that the police assaulted several of those detained during their questioning.

"Most of them have been released but we are not sure exactly how many are still being held," he added.

High Comm's intervention

Mahalingam said the commission led by High Commissioner Veena Sikri is "formulating a strategy" to bring up the matter with the Malaysia government.

Brickfields police refused to state the reason for rounding up the group, while Kuala Lumpur police chief Dell Akhbar Khan ( photo ) when contacted also declined to comment as he has yet to receive the report.

According to Indian news agency, Press Trust of India , those arrested also alleged they were slapped, kicked and their passports defaced before they were released.

The report quoted a detainee as claiming that they were "handcuffed and made to kneel or sit in the police car park, some were slapped and kicked".

The detainees were also ordered to do sit-ups, while others were stripped to their underwear, slapped and kicked inside the station, said the report.

The police also allegedly confiscated their mobile phones and refused to give them access to telephones. A few alleged that their visas o­n their passports were damaged by the arresting authorities.

The report added that the police initially denied the intervention of the Indian High Commission in seeking for the release of the group but later relented.

The group could not be reached for comment.

Public apology

In an immediate reaction, opposition party DAP national chairperson Lim Kit Siang called o­n acting Prime Minister and Home Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to give a public apology to the Indians IT professionals over their mistreatment.

"Abdullah should explain to Parliament the reasons for the most improper, high-handed and unprofessional actions of the police and immigration in the Brickfields raid yesterday, in particular the physical abuses, defacing of the visas, refusal to allow Indian nationals access to the Indian High Commission, etc," Lim said in a statement today.

He also urged for an assurance that police and immigration will not spite the national IT plan to hire the best brains, regardless of race and nationality.

"What happened at Brickfields yesterday was doubly unfortunate - a most nasty experience to the Indian IT professionals and a setback to the country's plan to attract the best brains abroad to come to Malaysia to help transform Malaysia into a K-economy," he added.

Last year, Malaysia deported some 468,000 illegal immigrants mostly from the Philippines and Indonesia after the government imposed a harsh penalty including caning for illegal immigrants.