SEMENYIH, Feb 27 — With less than 72 hours to polling, smear tactics appear to be on the rise in Semenyih.

The Barisan Nasional candidate for the Selangor state seat Zakaria Hanafi today filed a police complaint after spotting several inflammatory banners with the words “Vote for BN if you want robberies by Rosmah to repeat” in Malay at the Pasar Beranang here at about 8am during his walkabout.

Other messages emblazoned on the banners were: “I promise if I win in Semenyih I will bring Rosmah”, and “1MDB and Jho Low are created by PH to bring down BN. Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor are innocent”.

“I noticed the banners, festooned alongside the road, were provocative in nature and displayed my image as well.

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“I wish to stress here that I have never booked, placed or instructed any individual or group to set up said banners,” he told the press outside the Semenyih police station after lodging the report.

Zakaria said he lodged the report so the police and the Election Commission could investigate the matter.

The 58-year-old said the banner incident will not detract him from continuing his campaign and efforts to personally meet “at least 80 to 90 per cent of the voters in Semenyih”.

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Zakaria said he is putting his best foot forward in a bid to win over Semenyih voters in the seat that was won by Pakatan Harapan (PH) in the 14th general election last year.

“We try to explain to voters to the best of our capabilities. I will leave it up to them, God willing, to decide,” he said.

Zakaria is contesting the state seat against PH candidate Muhammad Aiman Zainali — whose father-in-law, Bakhtiar Mohd Nor, was the previous Semenyih assemblyman — Parit Sosial Malaysia’s Nik Aziz Afiq Abdul and independent candidate Kuan Chee Heng that will be decided on Saturday.

The by-election was triggered by Bakhtiar’s death from a heart attack on January 11.