Prosecution witness M Nagaraju said the youths who stormed the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in the early hours of Nov 26, 2018 threatened those present and told them to leave.

PETALING JAYA: About 200 youths, mostly armed with sticks, stormed the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in Subang Jaya at about 2am on Nov 26, 2018, to take control of the premises, the magistrates’ court heard today.

M Nagaraju, who leads a faction in the temple committee, said about 200 plastic chairs and window glass panels in the temple hall were broken, and three vehicles parked outside the premises were damaged.

The 10th prosecution witness in the trial of 17 men charged with rioting said the youths came into the premises from the back of the temple to chase devotees away and take control of the site for a developer.

“There were about 20 people, including me in the temple, and they threatened us and told us to vacate the place,” he said when examined by deputy public prosecutor Natasha Azmi.

M Nagaraju.

Nagaraju, 66, said he advised the devotees to leave without protesting as he did not want anyone to be harmed.

However, a four-wheel-drive vehicle carrying two men believed to be representing the developer One City Sdn Bhd, told some of the youths to detain six devotees.

“We were escorted and held in the temple hall,” he said, adding that police arrived at the scene about 4am and managed to arrest 17 men, but the others escaped.

Nagaraju said he was at the temple kitchen at about 12.30am with several others, cooking food for the devotees who would arrive later in the day to celebrate the Ayyappan festival.

He said the temple representative was also scheduled to hold a discussion with the developer about giving them time to remain at the present site before a relocation.

Nagaraju said he did not recognise the youths who came that morning as it was a large group and the incident happened three years ago.

However, he was able to identify one of the accused, Muhammad Saifullah Abdullah, when magistrate Muhammad Iskandar Zainol ordered them to remove their face masks.

“He was with two other youths when the six of us were detained in the hall. I asked him what they were doing and he replied that they were paid to enter the temple,” Nagaraju said.

Cross-examined by lawyer Mohd Hezri Shaharil, Nagaraju said he was unsure if the 200 youths included Indians and Chinese.

To a question by lawyer R Kirthiraj, who is appearing for Saifullah, Nagaraju dismissed a suggestion that his client (Saifullah) was there to protect the six from any harm from others.

However, Nagaraju agreed with counsel Azlan Abd Roni that the landowner had made several attempts to relocate the temple.

The witness also agreed that the atmosphere between the representative of the landowner and the temple committee would be tense on such an occasion and that the exercise had to be postponed.

Apart from Saifullah, the 16 are Muhammad Riduan Sekh Ruslan, Irwan Noordin, Mohamad Khairi Abdul Rashid, Rozaihan Zakaria, Muhammad Qayyum Mohd Faisal, Mohd Ashraf Mohd Faizal, Absal Eastrie Abdullah, Mohamed Jalil Talib, Muhammad Khairol Anuar Zabidi,Mohd Zamri Md Said, Shukri Razali, Nor Azmi Abdul Ghani, Mohammad Shahril Danniel Sajeel, Muhammad Hasneezam Shah Samsudin, Akmal Izzat Azi and Mohd Norul Ismawi Islahuddin.

Aged between 23 and 46, they are charged with rioting and being in possession of dangerous weapons between 2am and 5am on Nov 26. The offence under Section 148 of the Penal Code carries a maximum jail term of five years or a fine or both, upon conviction.

Hearing is adjourned to Dec 20. - FMT