SHAH ALAM, Nov 27 — Four more people have been arrested in connection with the demonstration at the Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam temple in USJ 25 over the last two days.
Selangor police chief Datuk Seri Mazlan Mansor said two men were arrested late yesterday evening and two more early this morning in the vicinity of the demonstration.
“Two of them were picked up during the commotion last night; the other pair was arrested after police discovered machetes in their cars,” he said during a press conference at the Selangor Contingent headquarters this morning.
“We will be applying for the remand order,” he said without elaborating.
He added five more cars were damaged by fire during the demonstration, and that one fireman is currently receiving treatment after being critically injured during the clash last night.
This brings the number of those arrested to 21, with 23 cars damaged in total.
Mazlan said police has obtained leads in their efforts to establish the mastermind behind the entire fracas.
“We have obtained signs and leads into who is the supposed mastermind, but that is still under investigations so I will not reveal more,” he said.
Mazlan also issued a stern warning against those who are taking the law into their own hands, and to parties and individuals making statements that could be considered detrimental to public order.
“I have warned against issuing such statements but there are those who are stubborn and still come out with negative statements.
“We will take action if needed,” he said.
He added that monitoring of the affected areas would be done round the clock by police, while assuring that the situation is under control.
Mazlan said that investigations are being conducted under Section 148 of the Penal Code for rioting.
“As investigations go on, there might be more sections of the law we might invoke, but for now it has been classified as rioting,” he said.
He also urged the public to relay information that could assist with investigations by sending a text message to the Selangor police helpline at 012-600 9999.
Groups of people had gathered at the temple late last night, but tempers soon flared and the assembly turned rowdy with acts of vandalism committed.
At about 2.10am, a group marched from the temple to MCT Tower located 1 kilometre down the road and began hurling stones and smashing the building’s glass facade.
In the scuffle, one of the mob grabbed Malay Mail photographer Mohamad Azinuddin Ghazali's camera and forcibly removed the memory card. Another person threw a fist-sized stone at Azinuddin but did not injure him.
