Anti-GST protesters arrested as police break up rally

A protester raises his arm as the police force protesters into the truck outside the Customs Department in Kelana Jaya today. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Najjua Zulkefli, March 23, 2015.More people were arrested at a protest against the goods and services tax (GST) outside the Customs Department in Kelana Jaya this afternoon as police began clearing demonstrators who had gathered since this morning.

A commotion broke out as police Light Strike Force personnel began pushing several demonstrators into a truck after they failed to respond to instructions asking them to leave the premises.

The number of protesters pushed into the truck cannot be ascertained as yet.

As more demonstrators from outside the compound attempted to enter the premises, police with anti-riot gear then began barricading the front gate leading to the Customs office, which sits by a busy highway in a suburb outside Kuala Lumpur.

At around 5pm, Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Azmi Abu Kassim instructed the demonstrators to leave.

"It is already after 5pm, the Customs office is closed. I give you five minutes to leave or I will get you out," he said.

The first arrest was made earlier this afternoon when activist Khalid Ismath was taken away by police.

"He was arrested when we were about to go in earlier," Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) secretary-general S. Arutchelvan said earlier.

"He sent an SMS to us, and some people saw him being arrested by the OCPD himself," he said, referring to Azmi.

Arutchelvan said they had no idea where Khalid was being held as calls to his mobile phone went unanswered.

The demonstration, a sit-in by more than 100 people outside the Customs building, began about 11am.

The group, led by PSM, had planned to stay until questions submitted to Kuala Lumpur Customs Department acting director Abd Gani Othman were answered.

A scuffle broke out earlier when some protesters attempted to enter the building but were barred by the police, which included Light Strike Force personnel with anti-riot gear.Part of the commotion outside the Customs Department in Kelana Jaya after the police asked the GST protesters to disperse. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Melati A.Jalil, March 23, 2015.

- TMI