The Batu Talam state by-election in Pahang - slated for this weekend - has reportedly attracted bookies as well.

They are reportedly offering punters the opportunity to bet on the outcome of the contest between Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Abdul Aziz Kiram and Independent Ng Chee Pang.

According to Bernama , punters have three choices:

1) The independent candidate loses his deposit

2) The independent candidate garners less than 500 votes

3) The BN candidate wins by a majority of more than 3,000 votes

The presence of the bookies in Batu Talam was revealed by Deputy Information Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi.

He said the bookies were active in areas dominated by Chinese voters, who make up 11 percent or about 1,200 of the total 10,500 voters in the constituency. The majority of voters are Malays.

"We want the police to investigate this matter and curb it immediately. This is serious," said the minister.

"We hope the Chinese voters, especially in Cheroh, are not influenced by these bookies. Their activities must be stopped to prevent them from profiting (from the by-election)," he added.

Opposition involved?

However, Ahmad Zahid did not provide any further details on the betting operation or the amount of money involved.

The minister said this information was obtained via the investigations carried out by the Pahang Special Affairs Department or Jasa, headed by Yusuf Jamaluddin and he did not deny the possibility that the opposition are behind it.

"I am not saying that the opposition are involved. There is a possibility (the bookies) are from the opposition," he clarified.

The Batu Talam by-election was called following the death of its incumbent Tengku Paris Tengku Razlan (BN) last month.

The opposition have decided to boycott the polls in order to press for electoral reforms. They have accused the Election Commission (EC) of favouring the ruling front but this has been denied.