Cops who charged into home were ‘nice’, says daughter of arrested rep

© Provided by FMT MEDIA SDN BHD DAP assemblymen P Gunasekaren (left) and G Saminathan have been arrested for alleged links to LTTE. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: The daughter of a Negeri Sembilan assemblyman P Gunasekaren recounted how an anti-terrorist squad descended on their home in Seremban and arrested her father today.

His daughter, who did not want to be named, told FMT that at about 9.30am, a group of 20 police officers in SWAT-style tactical gear and full-faced masks appeared outside their home in Kg Baru Rahang, Seremban.

She said the team charged through the front door, leaving the door broken. They then went into the room thinking it was the assemblyman’s room but it turned out to be the room of the DAP rep’s daughter.

“They handcuffed my sister. Then my father came. The police saw how calm he was and they loosened up a little. They removed the cuffs from my sister then.

“Those who came to arrest us were nice people. They treated him with respect.”

She said after seeing her father promising to cooperate, the policemen calmed down and proceeded to search the house, seizing all phones and other items.

“They did not handcuff my father. They just took him into a car and sped off,” she said.

The policeman then proceeded to the assemblyman’s service centre as he had some cheques to sign and was later taken to Bukit Aman police headquarters at 12.30pm, she said.

Gunasekaren, 60, is Negeri Sembilan DAP deputy chief and Seremban Jaya assemblyman. He was one of three people arrested by police in an anti-terrorism swoop which saw Melaka executive councillor G Saminathan arrested as well.

Earlier today, Gadek assemblyman G Saminathan, who is also a Melaka state executive councillor, was also arrested by Bukit Aman officers this morning, along with the leader of an Indian NGO from Perak.

A source said they are being investigated for links with the now-defunct Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the separatist group involved in the decades-old civil war in Sri Lanka.

The European Court of Justice took LTTE off the EU terrorism list in 2017 after finding that there was no evidence to show that there was a risk of the Tamil Tigers carrying out attacks following its military defeat in Sri Lanka in 2009, Reuters reported.