Hindraf members arrested in front of PM’s office

PUTRAJAYA: A group of people from the Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf) were arrested in front of the Prime Minister’s office here on Thursday.

They were the first members arrested since the group was declared illegal by the Government on Oct 15.

The group, comprising eight men, three women and a child, were taken in by the police at around 3.45pm as they were trying to hand in a memorandum.

One of the three women was K. Shanti, the wife of Hindraf chairman P. Waythamoorthy who is in self-exile in London, and the child is believed to be their six-year-old daughter Vwaishhnnavi.

It is believed there were some 50 police officers at the scene. The group was later taken to the police station here.

Earlier, the group -- led by Hindraf national event coordinator R. Kannan -- had told reporters waiting at the guardhouse they were at the office to “deliver their Deepavali wish” and that they were here as “individuals and not as the group Hindraf.”

They also had with them a copy of the letter from the United Kingdom Border Agency, which they had shown at a press conference in Parliament on Wednesday, as well as a memorandum calling for the release of their five leaders from detention under the Internal Security Act.

However, when they tried to enter the office to hand over the memorandum, they were stopped by security guards who told them to wait.

After about 15 minutes, police arrested them in front of reporters. There was no untoward incident at the scene and the group was calm.

When contacted at about 5pm on Thursday, Kannan said the police had yet to inform them which section they were being arrested under.