THE police are looking into three reports in relation to the Slim by-election: a spray-painted poster of a candidate, an alleged fake news report on social media and the holding of a job fair in the constituency.

Muallim district police chief Supt Sulizmie Affendy Sulaiman said today the police received a report last Thursday of paint sprayed on a poster of a candidate in the Changkat Sulaiman polling district.

“The police are investigating the matter under Section 427 of the Penal Code,” he told a press conference at the Muallim district police headquarters in Tg Malim.

He also said that the police havev recorded a statement from an individual who lodged a report last Saturday over an alleged fake news report on social media.

The complainant was satisfied after the individual who uploaded the statement apologised, he said, adding that the police have referred the matter to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.

Sulizmie Affendy said the third report was on the holding of a job fair in the Slim River constituency, with the matter reported to the Election Commission and Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Yesterday, the campaign manager for independent candidate Amir Khusyairi Mohamad Tanusi lodged a police report over the job fair, saying it violated election campaigning rules. The fair was opened by Human Resources Minister M. Saravanan.

Sulizmie Affendy also said the police have received 101 applications for ceramah permits, 72 of them from Barisan Nasional (BN) and 29 from the independent candidates.

“Only one of these applications was rejected because of its unsuitable location,” he said.

Sulizmie Affendy said he expected all the 267 police officers and personnel to exercise their rights during early voting for the polls tomorrow at Dewan Bunga Tanjung at the Muallim district police headquarters.

The by-election on August 29 is a three-cornered fight, with BN candidate Mohd Zaidi Aziz, 43, facing two independent candidates – Amir Khusyairi, 38, from Pejuang and S. Santhasekaran, 44. – Bernama, August 24, 2020.