WARTAWAN RASMI LAMAN REFORMASI

TERKINI DARI MALAYSIAKINI

Hindraf leader Ganapathi arrested

A key leader of the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) was arrested early this morning, sparking fears of another police round-up of leaders of the movement. Lawyer VS Ganapathi Rao was arrested at his house in Shah Alam, Selangor, at about 7.15am by a police team from Seremban. Another Hindraf leader M Manoharan told Malaysiakini that Ganapathi was immediately taken to Seremban and is expected to be charged with sedition. “I believe he was arrested over a forum which Hindraf held in Seremban two weeks ago. Five of us, including myself, spoke on the plight of the Indian community,” he added. He said he believed that he and three other Hindraf leaders - including chairperson P Waythmoorthy and legal adviser P Uthayakumar - will soon be arrested by the Seremban police. Last Friday, Selangor police arrested Waythamoorthy, Uthayakumar and Ganapathi for alleged sedition. The same day they were charged at the Klang Sessions Court with making seditious remarks in Tamil during their forum at the Yuen He Restaurant in Sungai Rambai, Jalan Batang Berjuntai, Kuala Selangor, between 8.30pm and 11.15pm on Nov 16. However, on Monday, Klang Sessions Court judge Zunaidah Mohd Idris granted them a discharge not amounting to an acquittal after ruling that the charge was unclear because the prosecution did not attach transcripts of the alleged seditious remarks in Tamil. Last Sunday, about 30,000 people - mostly Indians - gathered at Jalan Ampang in Kuala Lumpur to participate in a rally organised by Hindraf to submit a memorandum to the British High Commission. The authorities had denied a permit for the rally and obtained a rare court order restraining the public from taking part. The police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowd.