CAUGHT IN THE ACT: Man tries to burn down mosque TWICE

RAWANG - Police arrested a man, believed to be mentally unsound, after he allegedly tried to set a surau in Taman Jati, here, on fire twice.

The man, 36, who was on a motorcycle rode past Surau Assyakirin about 2.20am and tossed a Molotov cocktail at its roof.

The surau caretaker, who was still awake at the time, noticed the incident and immediately put out the fire before it could spread.

Following the incident, a team of forensics policemen from the Selangor police headquarters came to conduct investigations at the scene.

Gombak police chief Assistant Commissioner Ali Ahmad said the man appeared again at the surau in the afternoon, while the forensics team was still there, and threw another bottle of petrol in front of them.

“A scuffle broke out when he tried to evade arrest by the police. We believed he is mentally unsound and we brought him to the Selayang Hospital for treatment.

“Checks revealed that he was involved in many criminal cases before this. He was also believed to be involved in breaking an automated teller machines (ATM) in Rawang previously.

“Investigations also revealed that he tried to burn down a police station in Rawang before but failed,” he said.

Ali said the case was being investigated for causing mischief by fire or explosive substance with intent to destroy a building.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar later via Twitter congratulated the forensics team for apprehending the man. - NST