A group of Hindu devotees delivered a protest note to the Inspector General of Police Norian Mai today over alleged police involvement in the destruction and arson of a 100-year old temple in Shah Alam.

The Sri Kalikamba Kamadeswarar temple which served residents formerly living in the Ebor palm oil estate in Batu Tiga was said to have been destroyed during the early hours of June 14 by a group of unidentified individuals, and witnessed by police officers.

About 40 people, including Hindu activists and devotees of the Ebor temple, arrived outside the Bukit Aman police headquarters in Kuala Lumpur this morning to submit their joint letter of protest.

Their appeal to the police chief was received and acknowledged by an officer identified as ASP Kamaruddin.

Police 'followed orders'

Relating the events surrounding the destruction of the temple, P Uthayakumar, the pro tem Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim) chairperson who accompanied the group, said several unidentified individuals first tried to burn down the temple on June 12 this year without first serving any vacate notice to the temple committee.

"They came on that day and tried to burn down the temple but they failed because it started to rain. Devotees from the temple lodged a police report asking for protection and they took turns to watch over the temple.

"But two days later, another group of people came together with uniformed policemen and proceeded to destroy the temple," he said.

According to several police reports lodged over the later incident, three eyewitnesses claimed that some 10 uniformed police personnel had restrained them while another group of unidentified persons set the temple on fire.

One of the witnesses K Chandrasegaran said he and two other men posted to watch over the temple were restrained by the police and forcibly taken out of the temple.

"(The police) dragged us out by pulling our shirts with our hands held to the back. We were told that if we ran or resisted, we would be handcuffed," he said in his police report lodged on the day of the incident.

Chandrasegaran said five men in civilian clothes then pulled out the carpet from the floor of the temple, placed it on top of the temple roof and set it alight after dousing it with petrol.

ACA investigation

"(They) burned the temple right in front of our eyes and in front of the 10 policemen. The police then told us that they came because they were told 'told to follow' and that they were 'merely doing their job'," he said.

The witness said that at least one of the policemen was later identified as an officer from the USJ8 police station.

The investigating officer for the case, based at the Shah Alam police district headquarters, was unreachable for comment.

In the protest note to the IGP, the devotees called for an investigation to be carried out into why the police had not only failed to protect the temple but had instead "colluded with the criminals/developers in burning down the temple".

"We urge the police chief to take disciplinary action against his men who had aided and abetted in the destruction of the Ebor temple on June 14."

The group also requested that the matter be referred to the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) for further investigations into whether there were any irregularities over the approval process for the housing project since no temple land had been allocated for the residents.

No alternative offer

Meanwhile, Ebor temple committee chairperson P Thanabalan, said that the temple was built over a hundred years ago to serve former estate workers living in the area.

The workers were later relocated away from the area after the land was slated for development into a housing estate by Sime UEP Sdn Bhd about 10 to 12 years ago.

However, Thanabalan said the temple continued to serve the relocated residents since no provision had been given for them to move the temple to another location.

"We would have been willing to move but the developer did not offer us another site for the temple. They did not give us any notice to leave," he said.

In addition, Thanabalan said the Ebor temple was also registered with the Hindu Sanggam, an organisation set up under the patronage of the MIC president to encourage religious and spiritual development among Hindu youths.

Demolition threat

S Suthantiran, another activist - from the ad hoc committee against the indiscriminate destruction of Hindu temples in Malaysia - said the temple committee were later visited by several representatives from the government and the developer who urged them not to publicise the matter.

"MIC president S Samy Vellu came two days after the temple was torched. We told him what happened. We went to see him at his house two weeks later but he suggested that the people move to another temple," he said.

Suthantaram said the minister told him that the matter was discussed in the cabinet but to date, no decision appeared to have been made.

"Representatives from a company called Saga Securities also came and offered to settle the matter with compensation. But all the people who came to see us told us not to make this a racial or religious matter," he added.

Sime UEP representatives were not available for comment on the matter today.

Over the past year, several Hindu temples have been threatened with demolition as a result of encroaching development into former estates or residential areas.

Although there are about 3,500 registered temples in the country, another 17,000 temples are unregistered. They unregistered temples were mostly set up decades ago in rubber and oil palm estates to serve workers living in the area.

From previous cases, temples have been demolished by local authorities either because they are not registered or managed by a lawfully-recognised committee, or because the land that they occupy has been converted for development.