A group of about 70 settlers from Kampung Gatco, Negeri Sembilan, today urged Bukit Aman to intervene and stop alleged abuse of powers by the state police, in an ongoing tussle surrounding the ownership of their estate.

Their other demands, which includes the setting-up of a special team from Bukit Aman to investigate the alleged abuses, were recorded in a memorandum handed over by PSM central committee member S Arutchelvan to A Skandaguru from the police headquarter's corporate communications unit.

The group arrived about 10.30am and gathered outside the federal police headquarters, carrying placards and chanting, "tanah Gatco tanah kami! (Gatco land is our land)" and "polis zalim! (police cruel)" at around 15 police personnel who came out to monitor the situation.

After about 20 minutes, Arutchelvan had a brief discussion with Skandaguru as the officer in charge, requesting that several members of the group be allowed to go inside Bukit Aman and hold a meeting to discuss their demands.

His request was, however, denied, and Skandaguru insisted he received instructions "from the top" to not let them in. 

Arutchelvan then returned to the group of settlers, comprising mostly the elderly, to relay the message. Many were wearing yellow T-shirts with the message "Save Gatco Settlers".

Speaking to reporters, Arutchelvan said their demands to Bukit Aman was made on grounds that the Jempol police station had previously informed the settlers that all actions against them were purportedly done under orders from the Negeri Sembilan state police contingent.

"In this issue, the duty of the  police should just be to maintain peace and not side with any parties," he said in reference to the Negeri Sembilan state-government and Thamarai Holdings Sdn Bhd, a private developer that had purchased the Kampung Gatco land after the original lease holder Alonioners Trading Corporation Bhd (Gatco) was liquidated.

The actions include the arrest of 28 settlers on July 18 and another group of 30 settlers on July 24.

In both incidents, Jempol police had arrested villagers who attempted to block lorries from transporting rubber logs out of Kampung Gatco.

"There are also pending court proceedings which will be heard at the Court of Appeal in September, and a stay application at the High Court on Aug 15, so (Negeri Sembilan) police should have instructed both parties to wait for the outcome of the courts' decisions," Arutchelvan said.  

The matter before the Court of Appeal relates to the settlers' bid to reclaim land that they argue is rightfully theirs.

The stay application, Arutchelvan explained, is to seek an order to prevent Thamarai Holdings from continuing to transport rubber logs with an estimated total value of RM20 million.

Also present was lawyer Karthig Shan, who is acting on behalf of the arrested villagers, as well as Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) executive director Sevan Doraisamy, who noted that their request for a formal meeting with Bukit Aman officials was denied despite having written an official letter on Monday.

Skandaguru eventually came out to accept their memorandum outside Bukit Aman at close to noon and repeatedly promised to raise the settlers' demands with inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar.

He was also berated in Tamil by an elderly female settler, while others shouted encouragements at her. 

All of the group eventually dispersed at close to 1pm.

The dispute over ownership of the land that Kampung Gatco sits on dates back to 1977 when it was leased to Gatco by the Negri Sembilan State Economic Development Corporation (SEDC).

Negeri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hasan yesterday said the state government will not bow down to any party trying to block development in the area.

Gatco was incorporated by the National Union of Plantation Workers for the purpose of a land development scheme for its members.

The current settlers had paid RM7,600 each as a deposit to settle on allocated plots of the land as part of the development scheme.

However, the scheme eventually failed and the land was changed to two financial institutions.

Gatco eventually wound up but its liquidators sold the land to Thamarai Holdings Sdn Bhd in 2006, triggering the tussle.