PETALING JAYA : It was mayhem again at the Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam Seafield Hindu temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya last night when a large group of supporters and temple devotees turned unruly, causing massive chaos in the vicinity.
Four more cars were set on fire and placed in the middle of an adjacent road on both sides making it impassable to traffic.
A fireman who arrived the scene to put out the vehicle fires with his colleagues was also injured when the rowdies attacked him.
The group of hooligans also marched to the One City mall a stone’s throw away from the temple and smashed the glass wall panels of the MCT Bhd’s office on the ground floor of the building.
One City Development Berhad are the temple land owners in the middle of the controversy and are seeking to relocate the temple to another location three kilometres away.
Following a melee on Monday where a group of about 80 intruders clashed with devotees and supporters, scores of others against the relocation of the temple had began gathering at the premises from 7pm yesterday.
By 10pm, the crowd had swelled to an estimated 2,000 people.
What that started of as a peaceful show of protest under the watchful eyes of the police turned rowdy and chaotic from about 11pm onwards when the large crowd that earlier stood along the road shoulder started moving to the main road shifting gradually from a single lane before taking up the whole passage blocking off traffic flow for the next four hours.
About 50 youths then started harrassing passing cars that attempted to drive past. Minutes later, they set fire to two cars that were parked by the road shoulder.
The Fire and Rescue Department were summoned to put out the blaze and on their arrival, the unruly youth charged at them.
The firemen were warned to refrain putting out the fire and when they ignored the warnings, the group set upon them - forcing the firemen to flee the scene.
One of them was injured during the commotion.
Minor altercations also broke out between the youths and others gathered at the scene.
The vehicle fires eventually died down on its own and at about 1am the youths decided to set another car on fire.
This time they returned to the temple compound and targeted a car left behind by an escaped assailant who was among the intruders who struck on Monday morning.
While a few of those in the gathering pleaded to the youths to end their misbehaviour, the hooligans continued with the act.
About 15 of them lifted the car with the bare hands and dragged it to the middle of the main road.
Then, they overturned the car and torched it .
Throughout the three-hour drama, police including a large number of anti-riot personnel of the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) who had earlier arrived with water cannons kept watch of the situation from nearby.
A police helicopter was also spotted conducting aerial survelliance.
By 2am, the crowd began dwindling in numbers and dispersed on seeing the arrival of heavily armed General Operations Force (GOF) personnel.
The GOF personnel who carried assault rifles began lining up along the road shoulder opposite the temple and were also stationed at the One City mall.
Police are yet to issue a statement on the latest incident.
On Monday, 22 cars and five motorcycle, all parked in the vicinity of the temple were torched when a group of intruders clashed with the devotees.
Six of those involved in the brawl and a policeman were injured.
Police have arrested 17 people and revealed that the clash was not racially-motivated but was linked to the relocation of the 147-year-old temple.
Police have also identified the intruders behind Monday’s attack.
