Group of 10 try to take over ISTANA NEGARA: We are the rightful heirs to the throne!

KUALA LUMPUR - A group of 10 people including 2 women claiming to be the rightful heirs to the Malaysian throne tried to barge their way into the Istana Negara palace at Jalan Duta on Monday.

Clad in black, they came in three cars about 4am, parked and asked shocked palace guards to let them enter. The guards alerted the police who  then detained all the members of the group.

All 10 are believed to be members of an obscure group called the Kumpulan Panji Hitam (or the Black Banner Group) representing the so-called East Empire of Langkasuka Nusantara. The main members are believed to be based in Sentul and are part of a deviant religious group.

The group - all aged above 30 - claimed to be the rightful heirs of the throne and wanted to take over the administration of the royal palace.

However, they ended up being taken to the Travers police station instead and were remanded for attempting to trespass into the Istana.

Kuala Lumpur police CID chief SAC Ku Chin Wah confirmed they did not carry any weapons. Initial checks showed that the suspects had 13 flags bearing Islamic writings in their cars and that several of the flags were attached to the cars.

Lahad Datu and fringe groups

According to the Sundaily, this is not the first time the group has tried to take over the Istana. They are believed to have attempted a similar stunt in Kedah but were arrested and charged in court.

Be that as it may, the intrusion into Sabah shores by a ragtag army claiming to be from Sulu are still fresh in the memories of Malaysians.

The Sulu group too had claimed to be the rightful rulers of the East Malaysian state and it took a joint engagement by the Malaysian army and police to subdue the intruders.

Al Qaeda too started out small

Meanwhile, an academic has urged the government not to underestimate the potential threat to national security posed by fringe groups claiming to be rightful heirs to the throne,

“Any group that claims to be the rightful heir to the throne is threatening the peace and status quo without legitimate rights,” the Star reported Universiti Sains Malaysia’s Assoc Prof Dr P Sundramoorthy as saying.

“If we do not put an end to this, such groups will grow. If we look at al-Qaeda, they started out small but have expanded globally. They have brought devastating consequences to the affected countries."

Malaysia Chronicle