Ethnic Indian politician shot dead in Malaysia

A Malaysian politician of Indian origin was shot dead on Friday by an assailant at his party office, in the southern city of Johor Baru.

The 61-year-old S Krishnasamy was the vice president of Johor unit of Malaysian Indian Congress, the country’s largest ethnic Indian party and a provincial legislator was found dead in the elevator of his MIC office.

According to the local media reports, Krishnasamay was moving to second floor of a building to attend a party meeting when he was killed around 2:10 (local time).

The police however are not sure for the cause of murder whether the crime was politically motivated.
“Special unit has been appointed to probe the murder,” said Mohammad Mokhtar Mohd Sharif, the Johor police deputy chief.

He appealed to public not to speculate about the motive behind the murder. Let’s do the investigation; everything will be evident soon, he said.

A member of his party, MIC, S Arumugam said that Krishnasamay had lunch with him and other party colleague in a restaurant before saying to attend the party meeting, where he was murdered.

A woman colleague R Vithya Mohan saw the man speeding away on a motorcycle. That raised the doubt as whether the murder was politically motivated.

MIC is an ally of Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi's 14-party Barisan National ruling coalition.

Political situation in Malaysia is in turmoil since November last year when more than 10,000 minority ethnic Indians took out to streets for protesting against government measures accusing it as bias in job opportunities and racial discrimination; and accused the MIC to selling out its interests.

The assassination occurred at a time when the Malaysian government was trying to resolve the issue related to minority ethnic Indians.

Killing has been condemned from four corners in the state as Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, the Malaysian Prime Minister condemned the killing as a “cruel and despicable act” and called for a quick investigation.

While Deputy Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak said, “Killing has shocked the entire country” and condemned it saying, “Killing of a political leader is not the Malaysian culture.”

Deputy Prime Minister Mohd Najib Tun Razak said the killing of a political leader, “not the culture here [Malaysia],” had “shocked the entire country.”

MIC president and Works Minister Samy Vellu, a politician of Indian origin, said: “We have lost a strong and capable leader who has done a lot for the Malaysian Indian community.”

Krishnasamay is the second assemblyman to be shot dead in Malaysia after Joe Fernandez, Kedah’s Lunas assemblyman, who was shot dead in 2000 at a traffic light junction.