Supporters of Dr D Jeyakumar, the Keadilan candidate for Sungai Siput, Perak, have lodged a police report alleging 'campaign violence'.

Jeyakumar, a pro tem committee member of Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM), is contesting against MIC president S Samy Vellu for the second time in the parliamentary constituency . DAP's P Ponmugam is also contesting to make this a three-cornered fight.

In the police report lodged on Sunday, PSM polling agent A Letchumanan claimed that party workers were threatened that afternoon by members of MIC's Taman Dovenby branch and that a number of posters were torn down.

He claimed that obscene threats were issued against party worker V Nathan during a poster-run in the Taman Dovenby housing estate.

"I would like the police to take action immediately. If anything further were to occur against our party workers, the MIC is responsible," said Letchumanan.

Sungai Siput police confirmed receipt of the report and said the complaint was being investigated.

Motive questioned

This was the second police report lodged by PSM the same day, following one at midnight on the "commotion caused" by a Kuala Kangsar district official, the police and Election Commission staff (EC) outside the party's operations centre late on Saturday night.

PSM campaign manager M Sarasvathy alleged that Kuala Kangsar district councillor Lechumanan - the authority for Sungai Siput - claimed that the party "did not receive proper permission" to put up tents outside the centre.

However, Sarasvathy said the councillor had no basis to dispute this because the party had submitted its application as early as Thursday.

"(He comes) to us on Sunday and claims that the application was not approved. What is the motive in doing so?" she asked, adding that EC staff had taken photographs of the tents.

"If there was a problem with our application, why didn't they inform us earlier before the campaigning started?"

The current electorate of 46,748 in Sungai Siput comprises 41.4 percent Chinese, 31.4 percent Malays, 22.5 percent Indians, 4.6 percent Orang Asli and 0.1 percent 'others'.

In the 1999 general election, Samy Vellu retained the seat by beating Jeyakumar with a majority of 5,259 out of 46,748 votes.