The police have started their investigations into an article by malaysiakini which stated that police personnel could have been involved in the 'spray attack' which hit former premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad and ex-Umno strongman Ibrahim Ali last week.

According to a Bernama report today, Kelantan acting CID chief Shafie Islmail said the state police was being assisted by IT experts from the Bukit Aman federal police headquarters.

"We need the services of technology experts to trace those responsible in producing the report which has been classified as slandering the police," he added.

Shafie said the online media's report that Ibrahim Ali was sprayed with a chemical substance by a person, believed to be from the police force, was defamatory.

The police lodged a report against malaysiakini on Monday regarding the article which appeared two days earlier. The case is being investigated under the Penal Code for criminal defamation, which carries a two-year jail term, or fine or both upon conviction.

The 'spray attack' occurred at the Sultan Ismail Petra airport in Kota Bahru shortly after Mahathir had arrived at the state.

The police later revealed that the incident was related to the rivalry between two groups of Mahathir supporters. A prominent businessman bearing the honorific title 'Datuk' was then arrested in connection with the case.

The 53-year-old businessman was freed yesterday without charge after his remand order expired.

Confusion at the scene

Responding to the latest development, malaysiakini editor-in-chief Steven Gan said the report in question was a newsflash filed by a malaysiakini reporter from the scene of the incident.

"The newsflash initially mentioned the possibility of the police being involved due to confusion at the scene where conflicting versions surfaced," he said.

"Furthermore, it was a developing story and the original report was filed minutes after the incident happened."

Immediately after the attack, Gan said the journalist saw Mahathir being hurriedly ushered into a black car by, among others, men dressed in dark jackets.

It was later confirmed that the men were army personnel and not from the police.

Meanwhile, Gan said malaysiakini had also tried to contact Deputy Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan several times for comments but the calls went unanswered.

"The report was rectified an hour later when the situation became clearer and the mention of possible police involvement was promptly removed. Malaysiakini regrets the error," he added.

Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily had quoted Mahathir two days after the event that when he was attacked, he had initially thought that it was a police tear gas.

Malaysiakini had also published a clarification on the matter yesterday.