PUTRAJAYA: A group of Red Shirts who showed up at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here were turned away when it was discovered that a WhatsApp "invitation" to a meeting here was fake.

The Red Shirts, led by the group's information chief Ariffin Abu Bakar, were denied entry into the premises where a Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Pribumi) meeting with the party's members from the east coast was taking place.

The message, which was circulated on WhatsApp, said that Datuk Seri Khairuddin Abu Hassan, who recently left Pribumi, had invited several non-governmental organisation (NGOs) to a closed-door meeting on Friday chaired by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Thinking that the "invitation" was meant for them, a group of Red Shirts, mostly youths who came on motorcycles, gathered in front of the foundation's entrance at 3.20pm under the watchful eyes of the police.

As they attempted to enter the building, Pribumi supreme council member Abu Bakar Yahya told the group that the meeting was only for party members from Kelantan and Terengganu.

He explained that the WhatsApp message had been circulated by irresponsible individuals who were attempting to stir trouble.

Ariffin said he had received information that the gathering on Friday was an attempt to bring down democratically elected Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

"We came here because we want to hear his explanation. We do not want to resort to street demonstrations," Ariffin told reporters.

He added that it was unfair that the Red Shirts group had not been invited to the meeting as it too was an NGO.

"But we adhere (to their decision)," he said.

Shabuddin Hasan of Badan Amal Tarbiah Sejagat (Batas) insisted his NGO had been invited to the meeting.

"We didn't come to create chaos. We respect other people," he said.

Red Shirts leader Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos was, however, not present at the gathering.