Bersih chairperson Maria Chin Abdullah condemned the distribution of contaminated drinks to rally goers that allegedly resulted in the food poisoning incident last night, as an "insidious act" made in the guise of supporting the rally.

Bersih medical team coordinator Tan Gengta said they received 13 cases of food poisoning with six of the victims sent to the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.

Maria ( photo ) said in a statement today that the drinks caused the participants to have stomach pains, vomiting and diarrhea.

"This seems to be an act of sabotage and an attempt to poison our participants, who have since been given medical attention and taken to hospital.

"We urge the police to investigate this as soon as possible and bring the culprits to justice. Police reports have been made," she added.

According to a videoclip by Tan which accompanied the statement, what appeared to be new packets of soft drinks were shown to contain minute puncture holes.

Contaminants had allegedly been injected into the drinks through these punctures, claimed the video.

'Refuse free drinks'

Maria also warned participants to be vigilant and refuse any free drinks distributed by those not authorised by the Bersih 4 organising committee.

"If they accept the drinks, we advise them to check the top seam of the packet drinks for puncture holes, and if found, immediately report it to the security unit," she said.

Maria also urged those who knew anything about the tainted packet drinks to contact them.

Tan said the 13 had come to the medical aid tent and complained of tummy ache and diarrhea.

"Our medical team doctors stabilised all of them and the cases are not serious.

We sent six of them to HKL and the rest were allowed to leave after we treated them. We heard that some people left packet drinks along the road which some participants drank.

"The rumours were that some substance had been injected into these drinks but we don't know. We have informed the police as this should be under police investigation," he added.

When contacted, Bersih steering committee member Thomas Fann said the bottled water given out by Bersih to participants was donated by a reputable company.

"We only gave out mineral water and not packet drinks," he explained.