KUALA LUMPUR – The situation at the Sea Field Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Putra Heights and areas surrounding it in Subang Jaya are under control, said Selangor police chief Datuk Mazlan Mansor.
He said stern action will be taken against anyone who causes any disturbance or provocation.
“I will be heading to the location to monitor the situation. Police will not hesitate to take action against anyone who breaks the law. I advise the public not to panic because police are at the location and ready to act (if there is any disturbance). The Federal Reserve Unit is also there,” he said when contacted by Bernama at 3.15 am today.
There was a minor incident at about 1am when some members of the public who had gathered there had torched the wreck of a burnt car.
The temple was the scene of a commotion early yesterday morning which left six people and a policeman injured while several vehicles were torched.
They also set alight another burnt out car at 1.30 am and about half-an-hour later, they damaged a fire engine that was sent to the location to put out fires.
Bernama journalists camped at the scene since yesterday evening found the crowd getting bigger as night fell and refused to disperse.
Earlier, a lorry was placed in the middle of the road, believed to prevent FRU trucks from entering the area outside the temple.
At about 2am, part of the crowd began marching to Menara MCT which houses the offices of developer One City Development Sdn Bhd, about two kilometres from the temple, before resorting to vandalism where glass panels of the building and vehicles nearby were damaged, despite it raining heavily at the time.
However, the FRU moved in to prevent things from becoming worse.
Meanwhile, guests at a hotel occupying the building were asked to leave for their own safety.
Deputy Home Minister Datuk Mohd Aziz Jamman, who was at Menara MCT to monitor the situation, said the violent acts had “crossed the line”.
“This will get out of hand if it is allowed to continue… We have to cool things down. This is a problem between the developer (One City) and the temple. Does not involve religion or race,” he said.
The temple was to have been vacated yesterday morning but a scuffle broke out there between two groups, one which refused to leave and the other insisting that they move out.
One City is the owner of the land the temple is sited on. The Selangor government has provided a new site to relocate the temple while One City has provided RM1.5 million towards building the new temple.
— BERNAMA
