Labis has been included by the Johor police as one of the state's general election hotspots along with Kulai, Gelang Patah, Kluang and Bakri.

Johor police chief officer Mokhtar Shariff said Labis, as with the other hotspots, had intense rivalry among political parties.

NONE "Our personal security are taking precautions to ensure it is under control," he said after briefing Election Commission and police officers working during the general election at the Nusajaya district headquarters.

Mokhtar said police had issued permits for 283 ceramah.

"Three authorised ceramah had been stopped by the EC following public complaints for causing disturbance, such as traffic congestion. We also found out 21 ceramah had been held without permits," he said.

He said police also received 149 reports lodged by political parties on removal of party banners and posters.

"We have 13 police districts and each district has an average of 10 police reports lodged. We will investigate the reports and if we found them to be fake, we will act against the complainants," he said.

Mokhtar said the public should provide information on anything suspicious to ensure polling stations were safe from bomb threats.

This followed the bomb blast at the Nibong Tebal Barisan Nasional operations centre in Penang.

"We will take precautions to ensure the safety of the public, candidates and political party supporters. We have our own standard operation procedures to ensure the safety of polling stations and other areas," he said.

- The Malay Mail