A group of Indian information technology professionals today lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) over their arrest at the Palm Court Condominium in Brickfields o­n Sunday. They also alleged corruption by the police.

Four IT workers, who were among those arrested and detained by the Brickfields police for over eight hours, handed a copy of a letter describing their concerns to Suhakam secretary Kamaruddin Mohamed Baria at the commission's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The letter, which had originally been submitted to the Indian High Commission, appealed for action to protect Indian residents with valid visas in Malaysia.

"This is a collective appeal ...from those who have suffered terrific harassment from the police today (Sunday)," said the letter which was signed by 164 individuals.

'Bad image'

The police had rounded up 270 Indian expatriates residing at Palm Court o­n suspicion that they could be illegal immigrants.

However, of the 165 brought to the police station, almost all were released the same day when their documents proved to be valid employment visas.

Speaking at Suhakam this afternoon, software engineer S M Srinivasan ( photo ) related how he and his countrymen had been detained and treated by the police.

"We had to sit for hours in the hot sun with no water or food . Some of my friends were beaten. We called up our employers but (the police) did not allow the employers to come," he said.

Srinivasan showed reporters his expatriate identity card issued by the Immigration Department, but he said this was not accepted by the police.

"We are very upset about this. Indian IT professionals are very highly respected in the world.

"Malaysian companies send invitations to Indian companies for people to come here and share our skills. This (casts) a very bad image o­n Malaysia."

Another IT professional, identified o­nly as Johnson, told Kamaruddin that even tourists were not spared the police action.

"I invited my friend to come because he had heard that Malaysia was a beautiful country but he was arrested. Yesterday, he left for India. I was very disappointed and we are also scared to tell you other things," he said.

In addition to their ordeal, the IT workers also alleged that the police have regularly been extorting money from them.

"Whenever the police stop people, they collect money from them. If they don't give, (the police) will scratch out their visas and say that they are illegal...The people pay RM100 (or) RM50. (It happens) every day for some people," he claimed.

Asked what would happen if they did not pay, Srinivasan said that some people had been arrested.

"They will just take you to the police station. People are scared of this so they just pay," he said.

Shameful and distressing

Earlier, DAP chairperson Lim Kit Siang ( photo ) made a separate complaint to Suhakam o­n the incident based o­n interviews with the group during a visit last night to Palm Court.

During the meeting attended by some 150 persons, Lim listened to the accounts by those affected by the police operation.

In his report to Suhakam, the DAP leader said the accounts given by the IT professionals were "most shameful, distressing and harrowing" for both the Indians as well as Malaysians as citizens of the host country.

"If the police cannot distinguish between IT professionals from illegal immigrants, then either the police are not qualified and competent to carry out their duties to uphold the law, or the country is not qualified or competent to aspire to become an IT power," he said in his statement which was distributed to the press.

Lim also criticised the statements made by government officials so far in response to the outcry by Indian government representatives over the treatment of their nationals.

"(Foreign Minister) Syed Hamid Albar's statement sounded hollow and insincere against the horrendous accounts of the professionals whose valid (documents) were treated as fakes," he said.

Lim also said the reply by Deputy Home Affairs Minister Zainal Abidin Zin that it was normal practice for the police to round up suspected illegal immigrants as "completely unacceptable".

Double crisis

Lim said that the government should recognise that the country is faced with a "double crisis" - the crisis in Malaysia-India diplomatic relations. and the crisis to Malaysia's IT ambition.

"Is the Malaysian government seriously unconcerned that we are sending out the message to the IT world that professionals with valid passports and visas are treated no differently from illegal immigrants?" he asked.

Activist Charles Santiago, who was also present at the Suhakam office, said the police raid had raised several other issues which have to be seriously considered by the government.

"Why are the police embarrassing the Malaysian government in this manner? Why were immigration officers not at hand in the morning but o­nly at 5pm? It is not clear if the police were looking for illegal immigrants or if they had some other agenda," he said.

Santiago said the police had also committed criminal intimidation against the Indian nationals by defacing their visas.

"This already is against the law (to destroy a government-issued document). It was also in an Indian passport which is the property of the Indian government," he said.

Police probe

Meanwhile, Bernama reported today that the disciplinary division of the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters would probe further into the allegations of mistreatment by the Indian nationals.

The news agency quoted Kuala Lumpur police chief Dell Akbar Khan ( photo ) as saying that officers from the division would record statements from the alleged victims and the police officers who carried out the operation.

"We want to clear the air over the issue by carrying out a complete investigation even though our initial investigation did not indicate any wrongdoing," he said.

On Tuesday, deputy Kuala Lumpur police chief Ahmad Bahrin Idrus had said the police acted according to the law after receiving information that Palm Court was mainly occupied by foreigners with forged travel documents.

Retaliatory measures

The Sunday incident has also come as a blow to Malaysian business interests in India as the Indian government has threatened to take retaliatory measures to protest the police action.

According to Indian press reports, New Delhi is reconsidering some of its concessions made in favour of Malaysian companies operating in India.

Among the bilateral agreements reportedly being reconsidered are tariff concessions o­n Malaysian palm oil and a civil aviation treaty which may affect landing rights for Malaysia Airlines in Kolkata airport.

According to a report in Singapore's Straits Times , trade between Malaysia and India is worth over RM9 billion, heavily in favour of Malaysia.

Malaysian firms are also said to have invested RM274 million in India in various projects, including infrastructure and IT sectors. Another RM6 billion worth of projects are said to have been approved.