Inspector-General of Police secretariat assistant head Asst Comm Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf said that 1,056 such cases with 30 arrests had been recorded since the dissolution of Parliament on April 3.
He told The Star yesterday: "It has only been three days after nominations and already we have recorded 387 cases nationwide."
ACP Ramli said that fighting among supporters including armed confrontations using weapons such as machetes and knives have been common since Nomination Day.
Police have also identified individuals who tried to run over rival supporters to "scare" them in Kelantan and Selangor, he added.
"Some 15 people have been arrested since Nomination Day. They were in possession of weapons such as machetes and suspected of slashing rival party supporters and criminal intimidation, mostly while putting up flags and banners," ACP Ramli said.
One extreme case was of supporters setting fire to the operations centre of their opponents in Perak. In Kajang, a fight between rival supporters nearly turned into a riot, he said.
ACP Ramli said that damaging each other's flags and banners was common while there was a case where employees lodged a police report against their employer who they claimed "ordered" them to vote for a particular party.
The animosity had not always been between the supporters of Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat.
The Sungai Acheh PKR candidate, Badrul Hisham Shaharin, better known as Chegubard, was assaulted by PAS supporters on Nomination Day.
In Kelantan, a trader at Pengkalan Kubor was slashed when he did not allow campaign workers to hang a flag near his shop. "He received 18 stitches," ACP Ramli said.
Expressing concern over the escalating violence in the election campaign, ACP Ramli said that party supporters should "control their emotions."
"Malaysians should have the political maturity not to resort to violence in supporting any party."
