SHAH ALAM, Dec 6 — Police today denied wrongfully arresting anyone who was asked to provide their testimony for investigations into the riots at the Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam temple last week.
Selangor police chief Commissioner Datuk Mazlan Mansor said all arrests were based on standard operating procedures where there were reasonable grounds to detain individuals suspected of involvement for questioning.
“If there is reason to believe that person might be involved, we will exercise our power to arrest them,” he told a news conference here.
He added that not all arrests will necessarily lead to prosecution, clarifying that the Attorney-General’s Chambers will decide if charges were to be pressed.
“Based on the results of the following investigations, we won’t necessarily have to remand them for long,” he said.
Mazlan was responding to a faction of the Hindu temple led by S. Ramaji who accused the police of wrongfully arresting some worshippers during the riots that broke out over a dispute of the land occupied by the temple.
The senior policeman said those who felt there were wrongfully arrests can file a complaint with the police who will look into the matter.
“If there are such accusations of those being arrested after recording their statements, please present their names and we will check,” he said.
Mazlan said that to date, 102 people have been arrested in connection with the violent clashes at the temple. He listed the racial breakdown of arrestees as 49 Malays, 44 Indians, one Chinese and eight Indian-Muslims.
However, he did not disclose the breakdown of suspects still under remand, or those who have been released on police bail or those already charged in court.
Police this week disclosed 66 individuals who were being sought to assist the probe in the fracas.
Mazlan added that so far only two of the 66 individuals currently being sought by the police have come forward to assist investigations.
“I believe more will come forward in the coming days.
“I advise them and their friends or acquaintances to bring them and come forward to assist the police,” he said.
The riots last week were over the relocation of the Hindu temple from the site, during which fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim was seriously injured by attackers and is now warded at the National Heart Institute.
Several policemen were injured in the clashes in which 23 vehicles either torched or damaged and business premises vandalised.
