The police turning a blind eye to cases involving the MIC are 'emboldening the party's thugs' in Sungai Siput, Perak, said Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) leader Dr D Jeyakumar today.

The pro tem PSM Sungai Siput branch chairperson was commenting on Sunday's incident where party members were assaulted by a group of men with crash helmets.

They claimed that the attack was linked to a local MIC leader, who had verbally abused the group earlier for collecting signatures from residents regarding the problems posed by an unfinished road project.

Sungai Siput is the political bastion of MIC president S Samy Vellu.

Six of them, including PSM Sungai Siput branch deputy chairperson M Augusthine, were injured in the attack. A total of six police reports were lodged.

However, Jeyakumar expressed disappointment on the way investigations were proceeding.

He claimed that the statements recorded from the PSM members were more inclined towards putting them in a bad light.

"About 70 percent of the questions asked by the investigating officer were attempts to criminalise what we were doing.

"We were asked things such as 'do you have a permit to collect signatures' and 'why were you stopping cars to collect signatures and so forth,'" he said when contacted.

It has become serious

He said the police's inaction regarding cases involving MIC have emboldened the party's thugs who have been causing problems for PSM since 1999.

In the 1999 elections, Jeyakumar had contested against Samy for the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat.

According to the PSM leader, their office has been ransacked twice while their members are subject to threats and intimidation.

"This is the first time (last Sunday's incident) that it has gone to a physical level. This is the most serious and our families are afraid. But the police are not doing anything," he said.

In fact, he said, Augusthine was warned on Sunday that he would be 'slashed' the next time around.

"The police are inhibited from acting and they (the thugs) believe they have immunity," he added.

Yesterday, Jeyakumar met with Sungai Siput district police chief Asahari Othman to express PSM's disappointment with the investigations. The police chief had agreed to look into this.

Contacted this evening, Asahari said the statements will be re-looked at and re-recorded if necessary.

"By recording the statements, it does not mean that the investigations were over. It is still ongoing," he said, adding that the probe will be carried out in a fair manner.