GEORGE TOWN: Fourteen people have been arrested for rioting and obstructing Election Commission's (EC) personnel from discharging their duties in Penang on Polling Day yesterday.
State police chief Datuk A. Thaiveegan said there were three such incidents – two in Jelutong and one in Bukit Minyak – where the voters had prevented the EC personnel from bringing the ballot boxes to the vote tallying centres.
The 14 men, aged between 21 to 51, have been remand separately, for between two and four days.
“We are investigating the case under Section 147, 186 and 427 of the Penal Code.
“Eventhough those were minor incidents, their acts caused unnecessary disturbance, hence we were forced to arrest them in order to control the situation,” he told a press conference at the state police headquarters here today.
Apart from that, Thaiveegan said 44 police reports have been lodged on Polling Day, with 30 of them against the EC.
A total of 30 individuals had come forward to lodge separate reports claiming they were denied voting rights at their respective voting centres.
Elaborating, Thaiveegan said the complainants said many of them were stopped with the excuse that their names had already struck off the list by the EC personnel, indicatng that they had already cast their votes when in fact they had not.
“We will investigate the possibilty of people using fake identification cards.
“We will also refer the case to the EC and also investigate the reports we have received.” he added.
Thaiveegan added that 21 investigation papers have been opened prior to Polling Day and police would refer them to the public prosecutors for the next course of action.
Meanwhile, Thaiveegan said that the force would continue to work around the clock until the swearing-in ceremony of the new Penang Chief Minister.