CAUGHT ON VIDEO – COP INVOLVED IN TEMPLE PROTEST? ‘NOT TRUE, HE WAS ONCE A VOLUNTEER RESERVE BUT HAS BEEN TERMINATED’ – IGP FUZI

KUALA LUMPUR: Top cop Mohamad Fuzi Harun today denied that police were involved in the temple protest which turned violent in Subang Jaya, after a video of a man believed to be attached to the force went viral.

Fuzi said the individual who was videoed venting his frustration was a former member of the Police Volunteer Reserve (PVR).

“He was once attached to the PVR, but we terminated his services due to some problems.

“Therefore, claims that the police were involved (in the protest) are not true,” he told reporters after a function at the Royal Malaysia Police College here.

On Monday, a group reportedly intruded into the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in USJ 25, causing a disturbance in which several people were injured. The temple was also damaged while a number of vehicles were torched.

Early Tuesday morning, a protest to oppose the temple’s relocation turned unruly as protesters set fire to more vehicles and attacked a firefighter. The office of the land developer was also vandalised.

When asked to comment on the assault of the fireman, Fuzi said a special task force had been set up to identify the individuals involved.

“We have sent a team from Bukit Aman to assist the Selangor police to identify those who attacked not only the fireman but the police as well.

“We’re in the midst of gathering information and evidence, and we would like those who recorded the incident to come forward.”

Firefighter Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, 24, was critically injured after he was believed to have been attacked by rioters when attempting to put out the fire on several vehicles outside the temple.

He has since been transferred to the National Heart Institute.

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