Waytha saves two from night in jail

The estate workers were arrested for trying to stop encroachment by a property developer.

PETALING JAYA: Two workers from Ladang Bangi were arrested yesterday after they tried to block a property developer from the estate land.

They might have had to spend the night in the police lockup if Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waythamoorthy had not intervened.

Kajang police said they detained C Krishnan and K Rajan for trying to prevent employees of Trans Loyal Development Sdn Bhd from carrying on with their work in Ladang Bangi.

According to Waythamoorthy, the two obeyed police instructions to present themselves for questioning at the Kajang police station. Upon arriving at the station, however, they were told they would be detained for 48 hours. After getting over the initial shock, they decided to call Waythamoorthy for help.

When the newly minted deputy minister arrived at the police station, not everything went smooth for him.

“The police insisted on remanding them for 48 hours, claiming they had received instructions from the deputy public prosecutor,” Waythamoorthy told FMT.

“But I argued that for this case, it would suffice for the police to just record their statements and release them.”

He lashed out at the police, saying they had ignored the many reports the estate workers had lodged against Trans Loyal Development.

“But when the developer lodged a report against the estate workers, the police acted swiftly. Why the double standard? It is clear cut intimidation of poor people.”

He said the police attitude went against the spirit of an agreement between Hindraf and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak on settling issues related to the displacement of plantation workers.

“This sort of mishandling by the authorities can tarnish the commitment made by Najib towards resolving Indians issues,” said Waythamoorthy.

Trans Loyal Development and Ladang Bangi estate workers have been in a legal tussle since 2000, with the former trying to evict the latter from the land.

However, the estate workers have refused to budge from the place, insisting that the developer build houses for them first.

On July 1, the workers obtained from the Shah Alam High Court an order preventing the developer from carrying out land clearing activities within a 100-metre radius of the estate land.

Another politician championing the estate workers’ cause is PSM secretary-general S Arutchelvan.

He said the workers had lost faith in the professionalism of Selangor police and that he would henceforth deal with Bukit Aman in trying to resolve the Ladang Bangi issue.

“Let us see if the police will take action against the developer for defying a court order,” he said.