KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 — Two MPs and four assemblymen from DAP were arrested today in Mantin for protesting against the demolition of the decades-old Kampung Hakka here, the Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM) has alleged.

The lawmakers were Seremban MP Anthony Loke, Rasah MP Teo Kok Seong, Nilai assemblyman Arul Kumar Jambunathan, Bahau assemblyman Chew Seh Yong, Senawang assemblyman P. Gunasekaran, and Temiang assemblyman Ng Chin Tsai.

Another wave of arrests afterwards saw human rights watchdog Suaram’s executive director E. Nalini and at least six other activists and villagers detained, reported news portal Malaysiakini.

Their arrest follows an earlier arrest of PSM’s secretary-general S. Arutchelvan and an activist from NGO Jaringan Rakyat Tertindas. All of them were brought to the Mantin police station.

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“Kampung Hakka is being demolished. Nineteen people including PSM and Jerit activists, assemblymen, MPs and villagers were detained,” said PSM on its Facebook page here.

According to Malaysiakini’s report, the six DAP lawmakers were arrested for occupying the SRJK(C) Chi Chi alumni clubhouse, that was demolished soon after their arrest.

When contacted by The Malay Mail Online, Nilai OCPD Superintendent Mohd Yusoff Awang refused to comment on the arrests, claiming that the police’s work “was not done yet”.

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On September 30, 11 activists from PSM and Jerit, including Arutchelvan, were arrested for allegedly hindering the development in the village.

According to media reports, there were 40 Chinese families living in the 30-acre area, some of them claiming they had been there for six generations.

Their land had then been sold to a developer by the state government for a new township project.

The residents of Kg Hakka had been ordered to evacuate their houses in November 2011 by a developer, but in September 2012 Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had interfered against the demolition.

However, the Seremban High Court had issued an eviction notice to the villagers in August this year, causing the developer to start construction in September.