PETALING JAYA: Part of a 101-year-old Shri Muneswarar Kaliamman Hindu temple at Jalan P. Ramlee was tried to be demolished by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) on September 1 after the temple authorities and DBKL reached an impasse in their year-long negotiations to remove the temple from DBKL’s reserve land.
MIC Youth chief T Mohan, PKR’s S Jayathas and six others, who tried to stop the demolition, were detained and taken to Dang Wangi police station for obstructing the DBKL officers from carrying out their duties, said Dang Wangi OCPD Assistant Commissioner Zainuddin Ahmad.
The OCPD said only the wall of the temple at the back adjacent to a new office high rise was being demolished to make way for an 8-feet walkway. PKR’s vice-president Surendran, who rushed to the spot, said he heard about the demolition at 8 am and went there to try to talk the authorities out of it. However, he failed and DBKL went ahead at about 9.50am. “The authorities used hammers to smash the base of the statues of the deities. Lawyers and temple members were also assaulted by DBKL officials. This is an illegal demolition as there was no court order,” he claimed.
According to Surendran, more than 200 officials, including the police were, involved in the demolition process.
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