SUBANG JAYA: In the latest update on the riot outside the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple in USJ 25, here, this morning, a temple committee member said they were praying when they heard loud noises.
The noises, according to Ng Vijai, 38, were of people shouting outside the temple's gates.
Vijai said he saw a group of individuals wearing black with masks covering their faces, armed with knives, machetes and sticks shouting for those inside the temple to come out.
"They provoked us by shouting sensitive things. In fact, some of them broke in by breaking the gate before brandishing their machetes and knives in our direction.
"Before the cops arrived, a group of men who were also members of the temple tried to help.
"The situation was chaotic with some of them breaking the temple's windows, destroying chairs and tables and setting the vehicles parked outside the temple on fire.
"I guess at least five people inside the temple were hurt and were taken to a private hospital in USJ," he said when met at the temple, here, today.
Meanwhile, the temple's chief priest Jeyakumar Subramaniam said when the riot broke out, some individuals broke into every room in the temple and made off with valuables and cash.
"I was told some lost their mobile phones and cash during the fracas. The office was also broken into resulting in temple related documents and about RM2,000 in cash having gone missing.
"I believe the chaos had nothing to do with racial issues. I believe it has something to do with the relocation issue plaguing the temple right now. Some parties are attempting to twist the facts with regard to what happened," he said.
The Shah Alam High Court on March 11, 2014 ordered for the temple to be relocated following a consent judgment after parties concerned agreed to a relocation and for the land to be returned to its owner.
The four parties are the Selangor state government, One City Development Sdn Bhd (One City) who purchased the land from Sime UEP Properties Sdn Bhd, the plaintiff K Chellappa and M Nagaraju, who was brought in as an intervener.
On Sept 28 this year, a notice was issued by the Shah Alam High Court ordering the occupants of the temple to vacate the premises on or before Oct 15 for relocation purposes.
However, on Oct 25, some 300 individuals who were against the relocation order gathered outside the temple while relocation was underway.
In the incident this morning, 18 vehicles were torched and two men in their 30s sustained injuries.