Malaysia's top anti-government blogger was today arrested by police under the country's controversial law which allows indefinite detention without trial, his wife said here.

Raja Petra Raja Kamarudin, through his popular website 'Malaysia Today', has in the fast few months deeply upset the Abdullah Badawi Government publishing numerous claims about top government leaders which have been dismissed as lies.

The government has the power to detain people seen as threat to national security under the Internal Security Act (ISA). The law is critised for being misused to silence critics of the government.

Kamarudin's wife Marina Lee Abdullah, said that police came to their home this afternoon to serve an arrest warrant on him, under the unpopular ISA.

Last December five ethnic Indians who organised the November 25 massive rally to protest alleged marginalisation of the minority Indians in this country, were detained under this law. The five have yet to be released.

Popular news portal Malaysiakini said that earlier this month Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar had warned 58-year old Raja Petra that he could be charged under the ISA for comments allegedly insulting Islam and Prophet Muhammad.

Meanwhile, the Home Ministry has asked three newspapers to show cause on why action should not be taken against them over their news coverage on a number of recent political issues.

The ministry's Publications Control and Al-Quran Texts Unit secretary Che Din Yusof told Malaysiakini that the three papers were The Sun, Chinese newspaper Sin Chew Daily and opposition Justice Party's party organ Suara Keadilan (Voice of Justice).