Fourteen buses carrying some 200 suspected 'phantom' voters and Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters arriving at Lunas this morning were stopped by Barisan Alternatif (BA) supporters who then escorted them to the Lunas police station.

The passengers were travelling in school, factory and tour buses bearing outstation registration plates and have been detained at the police station since 8.30am, according to Tian Chua, a vice-president of Keadilan.

Chua told malaysiakini the BA supporters, exercising a citizens' arrest, stopped the 14 buses as they turned into Lunas from the North-South Expressway.

Some of the passengers claimed they had come to cast their votes for the Lunas by-election, polling of which started at 8.30am today while other passengers said they had come to canvass for votes.

Six Keadilan members lodged an official report at the Lunas police station at about 9am pertaining to the alleged "phantom" voters.

BN secretary-general Khalil Yaacob arrived at the police station at about 10.30am and told reporters he would leave the matter "in the hands of the police to investigate".

Khalil, also Information Minister, added that the passengers in the 14 buses had come to support BN and because of lack of accommodation in Lunas, they had come from other places.