'Bus carrying campaigners, not phantom voters'
Police have cleared a bus suspected of carrying ‘phantom’ voters into Bukit Selambau, but have arrested two men believed to be supporters of Pakatan Rakyat who had stopped the vehicle at 9am today.
Police have cleared a bus suspected of carrying ‘phantom’ voters into Bukit Selambau, but have arrested two men believed to be supporters of Pakatan Rakyat who had stopped the vehicle at 9am today.
Bukit Selambau police media liaison officer Hanzan Darus said the duo - aged 37 and 54 - were arrested under the Penal Code for wrongfully restraining the bus.
The bus was carrying 32 Umno members from Padang Besar, Perlis. They had stayed the night in Bukit Lembu, Sungai Petani, after attending an event yesterday that featured former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
As they were leaving Bukit Lembu to canvass for votes for BN candidate S Ganesan, their bus was stopped by the two men alleging that the vehicle was transporting ‘phantom’ voters.
Police said the two men, driving a Toyota Avanza, overtook the bus and forced the driver to stop. They then boarded the bus and prevented the driver from continuing the journey.
A passenger then called the police. The bus and the two men were taken to the Gurun police station for further investigation.
After checking the status of the passengers against the electoral roll, the police cleared the canvassers.
Election watchdog Mafrel, meanwhile, said that its observers had spotted two more buses suspected to be transporting ‘phantom’ voters.
One bus was seen at Taman Ria Jaya, while the other was heading towards Tasek Apong. The passengers claimed to be BN supporters from Alor Setar.
Such 'sightings' have been common in recent by-elections, prompted by closer scrutiny by observers and political parties to prevent the polls being rigged.
