Kuala Lumpur, Apr 20: The Malaysian Health Ministry has said that the ongoing Medical Council's inquiry on A. Kugan, who died while in police custody, will be carried out in a fair manner.

Health Ministry Director-General Dr Ismail Merican said the inquiry was independent and urged people not to speculate.

"Members of the inquiry are professional," he said yesterday after launching a health science symposium here.

Dr Ismail, who is the council's president, declined to comment on the proceedings, The Star reported.

On Friday, Kugan's parents met a six-man preliminary investigation committee, headed by council member Dr Megat Burhainuddin Megat Abdul Rahman.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian police detained eight Indonesian men and seized 23,300 packets of cigarettes following a high-speed sea chase in waters off the northern Johor state, a news report said Monday.

Marine police fired at the engine of a boat they believed to be carrying smugglers in Saturday's pre-dawn incident, marine police assistant commander Mohamad Khamsani Abdul Rahman said.

During the pursuit, one of the suspects was injured. He was later sent to a nearby hospital for treatment, Mohamad Khamsani was quoted as saying by the Star daily.

Kuala Lumpur  - Malaysian wildlife officers arrested three Vietnamese men in a mangrove swamp for poaching protected species of birds, a news report said Sunday.

About 400 black-crowned night heron (Nycticoraqx nycticorax) eggs and chicks were seized from the suspects, aged 21 to 34, the Star daily reported.

Wildlife director Rahmat Topani, who led the operation Saturday after a month's surveillance, said they were alerted by several conservationists living nearby.

Petaling Jaya, Apr. 18 : Leaders of Malaysia's Hindu Rights Action Front (Hindraf) have agreed to reorganize the banned organization.

However, they are at loggerheads as to whether it should be transformed into a political party.

In a bid to bring the movement forward, Hindraf's self-exiled chairman P. Waythamoorthy suspended his ten national and state coordinators.

"We are just moving on to the next stage by re-strategizing and re-energizing ourselves for the next general election," said Waythamoorthy from London.

Kuala

Kuala Lumpur, April 18 : A robber in Malaysia made two women perform oral sex on him after finding that they did not have any money.

The two cleaners, aged 68 and 43, were waiting for their factory van at a bus stop in Jalan Kem in Port Klang at 6.30am when a car stopped in front of them.

When the robber demanded for money, the women said that they did not have any.

He then asked the women to get into the car, apparently saying that he would sent them home.