Photographer injured as ruckus erupts at polling centres

(The Rakyat Post) – A KL Express photographer sustained head and body injuries after allegedly being punched by a group of party supporters here.

In the 11.30am incident in Sekolah Kebangsaan Tanah Liat, a ruckus broke out between two groups of vote canvassers which resulted in the photographer, Mahathir Mohammad, who was on duty, getting punched.

However, police managed to break the ruckus and the situation was under control shortly.

It is learnt that a ruckus also broke out in other polling centres namely SMK Guar Perahu and Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan Jit Sin.

Police were seen to have tightened security at all the hot spots and polling centres for the Permatang Pauh by-election today.

Meanwhile, Barisan Nasional’s (BN) booth outside the SMK Guar Perahu voting centre was ‘attacked’ by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) supporters who were not happy with the location of the booth.

They claimed that the distance of the booth was too close to the voting centre.

An Election Commission (EC) officer was roped in to settle the issue, however the BN machinery stationed there refused to relocate as they were confident that the booth was 50 metres away from the voting centre’s entrance, which was the condition set by the EC.

As the situation began to escalate, personnel from the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) intervened.

The EC then urged the BN machinery to relocate, which they finally agreed to do, to avoid making things worse.