PUCHONG: Nestled inside the quiet neighbourhood at Kampung Seri Aman here, one of the charity homes raided by police on Wednesday had been in operation for nearly two decades.
Resident Shamsuri Omar said he did not expect the home to be raided.
"This place has operated for 20 years and nothing like this has happened.
"It was early in the morning when I noticed a "black maria" (police truck) parked in front of my sundry shop.
"I was returning from the mosque when I saw the children being taken away by police," he said when met at the scene on Wednesday.
The 65-year-old man said he overheard the children being sent to the Police Training Center in Kuala Lumpur for further action.
"Based on my observations, most children there are teenage girls.
"They keep to themselves and conduct activities inside the premises," he said, adding that some of them sometimes come to his shop to buy necessities.
Another resident, Shahril Mokhtar, 46, said he initially heard that someone died there, which is why so many people had gone there.
"I decided to check it out and saw many police personnel at the scene.
"I just found out that police had conducted an operation to rescue the children," he said, adding that he learnt that there was another home owned by the same operators not too far away.
He claimed that it only houses boys and has rare horses there.
Meanwhile, another resident who declined to be named said he believed the children did not attend school.
"I never saw them going to school. They only conducted activities within the compound of the home.
"They do not mix much with the people around the area," he said.
Checks revealed that two of the homes raided by police at Kampung Seri Aman were now closed.
No movement was observed within the compounds of either home.