Sentul district police chief ACP K Kumaran is contemplating legal action against Tamil daily Makkal Osai and PKR supreme council member S Manikavasagam.

This is in relation to alleged 'defamatory' remarks in a news report published in the daily on July 4 pertaining to the death of local Tamil actress K Sujatha.

The report, based on a media statement from Manikavasagam, claimed that Kumaran had worked in the Perak MIC office prior to joining the police force.

In his statement, the PKR leader also accused Kumaran ( photo ) of having links with MIC leaders but this was not published by Makkal Osai .

"I was born in Johor. I have nothing to do with MIC. I am not a MIC member. The allegations against me are untrue. This is defamation," stressed Kumaran when contacted today.

"I will be sending them a legal notice soon. They ( Makkal Osai and Manikavasagam) have tarnished my reputation," he said, adding that the paper should verify the information it receives before publishing them.

"People believe what they read in newspapers, so it is the responsibility of the papers to check the facts," he said.

KL HQ takes over

The Sentul police chief also disclosed that the Sujatha case has been handed over to the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters.

"It is better for them to take over the investigation since these people have a prejudiced mindset against me. I cannot tolerate this any longer," he said.

"I have done nothing wrong, I have only worked hard," said Kumaran, adding that he hopes the newspapers will stop writing things about him as the case is no longer under his jurisdiction.

Meanwhile, Makkal Osai general manager SM Perisamy, when contacted, said the daily will wait for the legal notice before deciding on their next course of action.

"Once we receive the notice and his demands, we will then consult our lawyers," he said.

'We want justice'

On the other hand, Manikavasagam told malaysiakini that he sticks by what he has said and is not worried about Kumaran's decision to take legal action against him.

"We are not looking for political mileage, we want justice for the family. This is a public interest case, the public wants to know," he said.

The opposition politician is also "not happy" that the case is now being handled by the Kuala Lumpur police headquarters and insisted that it be moved up to the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters instead.

"I maintain that Bukit Aman form a special team to handle this case. If they do, I will cooperate with them and hand over whatever evidence I have," he said.

Sujatha, 29, had died suddenly on June 25 at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang after she was taken there from her house in Jalan Ipoh, Sentul.

On July 27, Manikavasagam ( photo ) filed a police report pertaining to allegations contained in a poison-pen letter he had received.

The letter claimed that there were elements of foul play in the actress' death and implicated MIC president and Works Minister S Samy Vellu's son, Vel Paari. Sujatha had worked as a private secretary for the minister's son in the MIC investment arm, Maika Holdings.

Following this, the police recorded a statement from Vel Paari, 44. He has also denied any connection with the case and has threatened to take legal action against several Tamil dailies and Manikavasagam.

Previously, Kumaran had said that the police are checking to determine if there was any foul play and that they have also not ruled out suicide.