SHAH ALAM: Police have so far detained 17 men to assist investigations into the violent clash between a group of thugs and devotees at Sri Maha Mariamman Devasthanam Seafield Hindu temple in USJ 25, Subang Jaya this morning.
Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said those arrested included the six men who were injured during the commotion.
He said police are looking for more people who were involved in the incident.
"Some of the men were detained at the scene. We also seized two swords, two sticks and a rubber hose." he said, adding that a policeman was also injured while trying to separate the two groups.
"We have also identified the mastermind behind the incident and are looking for the person to facilitate our probe," he said at a special press conference held at the Selangor police headquarters, here, tonight.
Also present were his deputy Tan Sri Noor Rashid Ibrahim, Federal Criminal Investigations Department director Datuk Seri Wan Ahmad Najmuddin Mohd and Selangor police chief Datuk Mazlan Mansor.
Mohamad Fuzi said a thorough investigation is underway and police have at Press time received 29 reports on the incident.
"In the meantime, we will be getting remand orders on the suspects tomorrow," he said.
On a related matter, Mohamad Fuzi denied claims that police had arrived late at the scene.
"We received information on the clash at 2.40am, four patrol cars and the motorcycle unit arrived at the location 10 minutes later.
"At the location, after assessing the situation, we deployed 700 more personnel from Serdang and the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) there... and they arrived around 5am.
"At this moment, we are monitoring the situation round-the-clock not just at the temple but also its surrounding areas to ensure that everything is under control," he said and urged politicians and non-governmental organisations to not stir up trouble.
Mohamad Fuzi was commenting on the clash early today between two groups which saw several people injured and 18 vehicles set ablaze.
The fight was believed to have been about the relocation of the temple.
Meanwhile, Deputy Home Minister Azis Jamman defended police's handling of the incident, saying that the force's action had prevented further escalation.
”If the police had failed to control the situation, there could have been casualties," he said.
Azis was commenting on claims that police had arrived late at the scene. He said based on records, the first police team arrived at the site 10 minutes after receiving a call on the incident.
"The first report was received at 2.40am and 10 minutes later, police patrol cars were at the scene.
”Some of the police vehicles have been kicked and prevented from approaching the temple.
"Back up was called in around 3am and to say that police arrived at 6am is inaccurate," he said, at the Parliament lobby.
What was important, he said police had followed prosedures and managed to control the situation.
Azis however admitted that a mistake when police mentioned that the fight was due to an internal squabble between rival factions. He said the matter had since been rectified.
Earlier today, several Pakatan Harapan lawmakers urged for disciplinary action against Subang Jaya police personnel for making such statement.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, P Waytha Moorthy, who headed a media conference in Parliament said the district police had issued a false statement by labelling the clash as a misunderstanding between two Indian groups.
He also berated the police for their delay in responding to the incident and controlling the situation.
Meanwhile, Azis urged all parties to take heed of Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's advice to remain calm and allow police to investigate the incident.