Kuala Lumpur
Sithan Krishnasamy, an Indian origin lawmaker of Malaysia's
Tenggaroh state, was shot dead Friday by an unidentified assailant.
Krishnasamy, 61, who was vice-president of the Johor unit of
Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), the country's largest party of
ethnic Indians, was shot point blank and a man was seen fleeing on a
motorcycle, media reports said.
A woman colleague, R. Vithya Mohan, saw the man speeding away. The
reports raised questions as to whether the crime was politically
motivated.
MIC is a member of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's 14-party
Barisan Nasional ruling coalition.
Krishnasamy was shot dead around 2.10 p.m. (local time) when he was
moving to the second floor of a building to attend a party meeting,
The Sun newspaper said.
Johor police deputy chief Mohamad Mokhtar Mohd Sharif said a special
unit has been set up to probe the murder and appealed to the public
to refrain from speculating the motive.
"Let us do the investigating," he was quoted as saying by the
newspaper.
The New Straits Times termed the killing as "gangland-style".
Krishnasamy, who was also a MIC's central committee member, was
elected Tenggaroh assemblyman in the 2004 general election.
Another MIC colleague S. Arumugam told media that Krishnasamy had
lunch with him and other party colleagues at a restaurant before
excusing himself to attend the party meeting.
Krishnasamy is the second MIC assemblyman to be shot dead. In
November 2000, a pillion rider on a motorcycle shot Kedah's Lunas
assemblyman Joe Fernandez, 54, when he stopped at a traffic lights
junction.
The minority ethnic Indian population that forms roughly eight
percent of the 27 million population are in turmoil after more than
10,000 Indians staged an anti-government protest in November to
complain of racial discrimination and accused the MIC of selling out
their interests.
The Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf), the body that organised the
rally has been banned and its five top leaders are in jail on charge
of threatening national security.
Boloji.com is owned and managed by Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer
No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
