MIC senator M Saravanan today denied he had led a group of party members in removing two banners calling for party chief S Samy Vellu's resignation as the works minister.

Contacted today, Saravanan who is also the MIC Federal Territory secretary said his presence outside the Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (SCAH) on Monday was a coincidence.

The two banners were put up by opposition party Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) at the overhead bridge outside SCAH, but were removed about an hour later by a group of 15 men allegedly led by Saravanan.

"I was passing the place and saw that people had started gathering. It was neither a pre-planned assembly nor did I give any instruction to the group," he said.

"If I had known PKR was going to put up the banners, I could have taken thousands of MIC members to stop that (from happening)our party has enough capacity to do that."

He denied that the group had taken down the banners, and said these had been removed by police personnel who were present.

"We have enough photographs to show the banners being carried away by uniformed police and not by any of us," Saravanan said, adding that he was willing to provide information to the police to facilitate investigations.

Asked about the identity of those in the group, he said he did not personally know any of them but could identify "a handful as they are party members".

He claimed that the group acted swiftly in removing the banners because party supporters were at the SCAH to prepare for an album launch that night. Samy Vellu had been invited to officiate at the event.

Saravanan also criticised the PKR campaign to put up banners nationwide in demanding Samy Vellu's resignation or face dismissal.

He added that the campaign should be condemned because it is not in line with the actions of "a civilised society".

Police probe

Dang Wangi district police headquarters investigation officer Affendi Hussin told malaysiakini that investigations are underway following a report lodged by PKR leader Badrul Hisham Shaharin on Monday.

"I have asked Badrul and Saravanan to see me so I can record their statement, but neither has turned up yet," Affendi said.

He noted that the removal of material deemed unlawful is a job for the enforcement authorities, and not for members of any political party.

"If the allegation in the police report is true, then the group involved should not have done so," he said.

When contacted, Badrul said he would meet the police on Friday. He also said he is prepared to submit video footage to substantiate his report.

The two banners that were removed had the words ' What do we want? Samy out now ' and ' bela hak rakyat, pecat Samy segera ' (defend people's rights, sack Samy immediately).

Samy Vellu has come under fire by opposition politicians and Barisan Nasional backbenchers, who have called for his resignation over several serious infrastructural breakdowns involving his ministry.

He has brushed aside the calls and claimed that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has accepted his explanation on the six problematic government projects under his ministry.

Health Minister Dr Chua Soi Lek, however, said he was not satisfied with the response in relation to the fungus problem at a newly-completed hospital in Johor.