AFTER weeks of calm, tension has returned to the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya, Selangor, as Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and police lorries stand-by for any eventuality after the death of fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim.

Police turned up in full force outside the temple following Adib’s death at the National Heart Institute (IJN) last night.

Racial and religious tensions are already brewing on social media with many blaming the temple committee for Adib’s death.

Selangor deputy police chief Abdul Rashid Wahab said they have almost 400 policemen on stand-by at the area to ensure the safety of the temple and the developer’s office at the One City Business Complex nearby.

“We have given our number one priority to the temple, to safeguard the area as we monitor the situation,” Rashid told The Malaysian Insight.

“We have also increased the number of police personnel and we are ready to maintain peace.”

Adib was first admitted to the intensive care unit of the Ramsay Sime Darby healthcare centre after he was injured on November 27 while on duty at the temple where the mob had torched several cars.

He was part of a team of nine firemen team responding to a fire at the temple.

It was reported that rioters forcefully dragged him out of his vehicle and attacked him, causing him to sustain broken ribs, punctured lungs and other internal injuries.

The next day, however, the temple task force alleged that Adib was not beaten up but hit by a fire engine.

The task force said in a press conference that there were three videos circulating on social media showing the fire engine reversing suddenly, with Adib directly behind it.

On December 6, however, police remanded four men to assist investigations into attempted murder, as the case was classified at the time. The four have been released on bail. Police reclassified the case as murder last night.

Adib succumbed to the injuries last night after being warded in the intensive care unit for weeks. The body was flown from the Subang airport to his hometown in Kedah earlier today.

A post-mortem was done at the National Institute of Forensic Medicine, Kuala Lumpur, said Selangor Fire and Rescue Department deputy director Hassan ‘As’ari Omar. He declined further comment. – December 18, 2018.