Two opposition leaders have cried foul over the collection of Paal Kudam (milk pot) fee from devotees who intend to make offerings at the Batu Cave temple during the upcoming Thaipusam festival.

In a statement today, pro tem Parti Reformasi Insan Malaysia (Prim) secretary-general P Uthayakumar said the Batu Caves temple committee should desist from "illegally" collecting a RM10 fee from the Paal Kudam bearers.

"There is no reason for the temple to charge people money during Thaipusam to make a religious offering especially when no such fee is charged on normal days. It appears as though they are taking advantage of the festivities," he said.

According to Uthayakumar, it is not enough for the temple committee to say that the fee is not obligatory, as reported in a Malay Mail report last week, but it should be scrapped altogether.

"Where is the money going to? This has been going on for the last couple of years. There should be a proper audit of the temple accounts," he asserted.

The Prim secretary-general said the temple committee should declare and publish the sum of collected donations and funds in newspapers in the interest of transparency and accountability.

"We also call upon R Nadarajah (the president of the Maha Mariaman temple in Kuala Lumpur which overseas the Batu Caves temple) and his committee to declare their assets to the Anti-Corruption Agency," he added.

'Thorough' investigations

Meanwhile, Keadilan vice-president S Manikavasagam lodged a police report on Jan 30 over the alleged issuance of "false tickets" by the temple committee in exchange for their RM10.00 fee to carry the Paal Kudam.

He also lodged a report against Gombak district head of investigations Wan Zainulddin Wan Mahmood for failing to investigate similar allegations made by Manikavasagam in a police report dated Jan 28 last year.

"The police have promised to look into this case but to date, no action has been taken against those involved. I am very disappointed with the police for not taking action as promised by Wan Zainulddin," he said.

In a letter to Manikavasagam dated April 24 last year, Zainulddin said the police had started investigations into the case which had been classified under Section 420 of the Penal Code.

"Such a case requires thorough investigations. It is not something that is easy to resolve in a short period of time because many parties are involved and the police needs more time to complete the investigations.

"We will keep you informed on future developments," said Zainulddin in the letter, which was made available to malaysiakini.

Meanwhile, Nadarajah was unavailable for comment.