GEORGE TOWN: Police have recorded Penang Deputy Chief Minister II P Ramasamy’s statement on his alleged links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the terrorist organisation based in northeastern Sri Lanka.
State police chief Datuk Seri A Thaiveegan said the Dap politician was called in on Tuesday following numerous reports that had been lodged against the latter.
“He was called to have his statement recorded and he co-operated with us,” he said, adding the case was also being handled by the Bukit Aman police headquarters as the reports against Ramasamy were lodged in various states.
Earlier, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said police had received 53 reports against Ramasamy over the latter’s alleged ties with Tamil Nadu politician and vocal Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) supporter V. Gopalasamy, or Vaiko.
He said the reports were lodged in various parts of the country, and that Ramasamy himself had lodged a counter-report.
“Initially, the case was being handled by Penang police. However, because it is now a case of national interest, it has been taken over by Bukit Aman’s Special Investigations Unit,” he told reporters after a ceremony at which police received expressway patrol vehicles at Persada Plus.
The LTTE, founded in northeastern Sri Lanka in 1976, waged a secessionist insurgency for a Tamil state in the South Asian country and was declared a terrorist organisation by the United Nations.
On Saturday, Ramasamy caused controversy when he uploaded a picture of himself posing with Vaiko onto his Facebook page. The picture was taken when Vaiko attended a wedding in Penang.
In June last year, Vaiko had been detained by Immigration officers at the Kuala Lumpur Internationa Airport and barred from entering the country.
However, on Monday, Immigration director-general Datuk Seri Mustafar Ali had confirmed that Vaiko’s name had already been dropped from the blacklist and he was no longer barred from entering Malaysia.