While the authorities claim to be tracking down fugitive spiritual leader Ayah Pin, one his followers today said she saw him at his remote commune in Terengganu just hours after the premises was raided.

The woman from Kuala Lumpur, who was among the 21 followers detained, said she spotted Ayah Pin in the village when she returned from the police station late Saturday night.

"We only reached Kampung Batu 13 past midnight after posting bail. I saw him talking to a small group of people in the village but I could not hear what he was saying. I also heard talks about a mole within.

"Just before the raid earlier I had asked some of the villagers where Ayah Pin was and they told me that he had gone off somewhere earlier in the afternoon," said the woman, who declined to be named, when contacted today.

About 65 officers from the Terengganu Islamic Affairs Department (JHEAT), police, immigration and the Malaysian Islamic Development Department (Jakim) were involved in the raid.

Ayah Pin or Ariffin Mohammad, 65, had reportedly slipped away before the raid led by the state's syariah enforcement chief Mohd Azam Alwi.

Nowhere in sight

However, JHEAT officer Yusof Salleh, who assisted in Saturday's operation, said he was perturbed by Ayah Pin's sudden disappearance.

"It is strange that he disappeared just like that, especially when our intelligence reported that he was still in the village. His vehicle was parked right outside his house and no one saw him leave.

"It would be ridiculous to say that he just vanished into thin air," he added when contacted later.

"We went in with a search warrant and after searching all the houses and buildings, we seized about 20 VCDs from four houses including one where Ayah Pin's fourth wife was staying," he said.

The seized VCDs feature Ayah Pin in various religious garbs of the Buddhist and Hindu faiths and were filmed in several temples such as Batu Caves, Selangor and in Bali.

Yusof said the authorities were currently tracking him down as 'this is a national issue and not just affecting the state'.

Meanwhile, his follower said they lodged individual police reports on Sunday alleging that they were not told of the reason for being detained and for ransacking the villagers' houses.

This could not be immediately confirmed with the Besut district police.

Relating her experience during the raid, she said the officers had failed to identify themselves and did not tell them what they were being detained for.

"They were being secretive and whispered for me to follow them when I asked why only some of us were being questioned. I was not sure what was going on.

"A man in plainclothes told me to write down my personal details in his notebook and when I asked him why, his reply was 'saja nak berkenalan' (simply to get to know you). A female JHEAT officer then searched my bag."

The woman, together with three others including a police inspector from Perak and a Kuala Lumpur-based rock group drummer had reached the village Saturday by taxi from Machang, Kelantan, at about 5.30pm.

"We were stopped at a road-block just outside the village but when I got to the main gate, I saw the place swarming with uniformed policemen and others in plainclothes and donning navy-blue jackets. There were five or more police trucks, with helmets and shields inside one of them."

Rounded-up at random

She said the authorities rounded them up at random and posed various questions before herding them to a waiting JHEAT van at about 7pm.

At the police station, the woman said they were given pamphlets titled 'Ajaran Sesat Ayah Pin' (deviant teachings of Ayah Pin) that contained some testimonials and some sort of fact sheet.

"They asked me about Islam and whether I knew my prayers. We were questioned separately and told to fill up a questionnaire with different set of questions before taking our photographs."

The 21 followers will be charged at the Besut syariah sessions court on Aug 23.

According to Yusof, all of them will be charged under Section 10 except for four who will also face charges under Section 14(b) of the Syariah Criminal Offence Enactment (Takzir) 2001.

Section 10 is for violating a state fatwa declaring Ayah Pin's teachings as deviant while Section 14(b) is for possession of doctrine, documents or recordings that insult Islam.

"I was just told that the group had lodged police reports and that the police inspector himself is facing another charge by the police in addition to the syariah violations," he said.

"We've started the investigations and are constantly monitoring the village and Ayah Pin's activities with the cooperation of the Internal Security Ministry and Jakim," he added.

Both offences carry a maximum fine of RM3,000 or a two-year jail term.