Lim Kit Siang has filed a civil suit against former inspector-general of police Hanif Omar over the latter's remarks, which the DAP veteran had described as a “cock and bull" story. 

According to lawyer Ramkarpal Singh, the suit was filed with the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Wednesday and served on Hanif's solicitors today.

He said the matter has been fixed for case management on Nov 21.

The suit concerns an article published in the Malay-language newspaper Sinar Harian titled “Tun Hanif buat pendedahan DAP, PAS”, which was published on Sept 6.

In the article, Hanif was quoted as stating that he was forced to incarcerate Lim for the sake of national harmony during the 1969 racial riots.

"DAP suggested that Peninsular Malaysia is split into two, East Coast for the Malays and the West Coast for the Chinese.

"What was my answer? I put Lim Kit Siang in prison.

"He was in (detention) for two years. That was Hanif's way when I was the inspector-general of police," he had said.

The following day, Lim demanded Hanif to prove his claim within 48 hours.

Calling it the “greatest cock and bull story", the DAP veteran claimed that it was part an agenda to demonise him and the party.

"I challenge Hanif to quote the chapter and verse, date and place, where I had made such a ridiculous proposal. If the information is classified as official secret, then it should be declassified.

"I give Hanif two days to respond to this challenge or Malaysians must conclude that he is senile or has a special agenda to demonise me and DAP with such a lie.

"I reserve my right to institute legal action to vindicate my character and reputation, which I will disclose after two days," he had said.