Police in Penang have arrested 11 men for having weapons with them while putting up political party flags in Bayan Baru and in Butterworth early today.

Penang police election spokesman ACP Roslee Chik said police found three machetes and an axe as well as scores of party flags in a car carrying six men aged between 18 and 37 in the Queens Bay area of Bayan Baru at 4.30am today.

"The suspects were reportedly replacing the flags of a rival party with those of their own party," he told reporters in George Town.

Roslee also said police arrested five men aged between 18 and 24 at a parking lot along Jalan Kampung Benggali in Butterworth at 2.28am and seized six swords hidden in the bonnet of a car.

He said investigations revealed that the men were being paid RM80 a day to put up the flags.

On another matter, he said last Friday police removed a banner in Bukit Minyak on the mainland, which bore provocative words attributed to a retired senior police officer and a retired army general.

Roslee said the police have received 114 reports related to the general election, and 26 cases were under investigation.

- Bernama

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