KAJANG • The Malaysian police have widened their investigation in connection with the viral sex videos implicating a minister, including into the possible involvement of a state assemblyman, said police chief Abdul Hamid Bador.

The police yesterday arrested three suspects - reportedly including a political secretary of a Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) leader - to assist in the investigation into the spread of the videos, adding to the six they had arrested on Sunday.

Those arrested earlier included former PKR youth leader Haziq Aziz, who has confessed to being one of the two men in the lewd video clips which emerged last month, while the others included PKR members.

Earlier yesterday, Inspector-General of Police Abdul Hamid said the police were investigating the possibility that those arrested were linked to the state assemblyman, along with other angles. "We will explore all angles, including the mastermind behind the recording and spread of the video," he told a press conference in the town of Semenyih in Selangor state.

Mr Haziq has alleged that Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali, PKR's deputy president, is the other man in the videos. Mr Azmin, however, has denied the allegation.

Police said earlier that the six arrested would be remanded until Saturday under Section 377B of the Penal Code, which punishes unnatural sexual relations, and Section 233 of the Communications and Multimedia Act, which concerns abuse of network facilities.

Yesterday, Mr Abdul Hamid said action will be taken against those identified as being involved in the case. "Whether there will be more arrests will depend on the course of the investigation," he added.

He had said last Saturday that the police were closing in on an "alliance" that spread the clips anonymously via WhatsApp to PKR members and journalists.

He also said the police were taking their time to thoroughly investigate the case to ensure that justice was served and no innocent person was punished. "This is a complicated case as it involves elected representatives and politicians, so allow us time to properly investigate it," he added.

Meanwhile, the police have also received a report from CyberSecurity Malaysia, the agency tasked with providing digital forensics expertise to analyse the videos. National criminal investigation chief Huzir Mohamed said the police had received the report on the identity of the two men in the videos, but did not provide details.

THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK