Selangor police chief Datuk Abdul Samah Mat said that the attack on Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Malaysia Ibrahim Ansar was linked to the protests against the visit of former President MAhinda Rajapaksa to the country.

Speaking to the media yesterday, he said that Selangor police have set up a special investigation team to probe Sunday's assault on Ansar at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

The Selangor police chief also said they have also acquired a three-day remand order against five suspects arrested in connection with the incident.

The men, aged between 27 and 56, and four others still at large, are being investigated under Section 147 of the Penal Code for rioting.

"Following the incident, police have set up a special investigation team and between 5pm Sunday and 7am yesterday (Monday), they have managed to trace and arrest five suspects. They are being remanded for three days until tomorrow (Wednesday). Three of them were detained in Sungai Siput, Perak, while two others were nabbed in Dengkil and Rawang (Selangor). A manhunt is ongoing for four others whom police have identified," he told reporters at the district police headquarters. Abdul Samah was attending the state police monthly assembly.

He said police are also looking into the backgrounds of individuals and organisations who lodged 47 reports against former Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa's visit to Malaysia. The probe is to, among others, determine if there were any affiliations between the complainants and the Sri Lankan Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organisation.

When asked on why there were no security details assigned to provide protection to the envoy at KLIA, he said police was not informed of Ibrahim's plan to send a Sri Lankan minister to the airport. He said the two policemen who broke up the attack on Ibrahim were also not aware of the envoy's identity until much later. On criticism hurled at police that the policemen had failed to make immediate arrests on those who attacked Ibrahim, Abdul Samah said the policemen's concern at the time was to stop a fight and rescue the victim.

(With inputs from the New Straits Times)