A witness told the Coroner’s Court today that he saw a group of about 30 people throwing punches and kicking as though they were beating someone during the riots at the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya, Selangor last November.
Nassaruddin Abdullah, a 22-year-old technician from Dengkil, said the group was shouting profanities in Tamil, but added he could not see if anyone was getting beaten up.
“I saw a group of 30 people in a circle, cursing in Tamil and I noticed their movements and the actions like they were beating someone – it happened in less than one minute,” he told coroner Rofiah Mohamad Mansor.
He said he saw the group surrounding the Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) that fireman Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim was supposedly in. He saw the reversing fire truck colliding with the EMRS vehicle.
Nassaruddin said the fire truck had backed up as the angry mob was attacking it with sticks, stones and helmets. The truck then hit the van.
“I then saw 20 to 30 Indians surrounding the EMRS van. They were shouting, ‘How dare you enter the kuil’ (‘Berani kau masuk kuil’).
“I then noticed the movements of some people in the group. It was seemed as though they were punching and stomping on someone, but I could not see whether there was anyone in the circle.
“But I am sure they were making the stomping and punching motions downwards,” said Nassaruddin, who was the 17th witness in the inquest of the 24-year-old deceased fireman.
He said during the scuffle which lasted less than a minute, someone from the crowd had shouted “Police! Police!” and the gang immediately dispersed.
“I did not see what happened after these people had run away. I went to look for a friend who I lost in the commotion.”
He said he glanced back and saw people carrying a shirtless man, wearing a fireman’s uniform pants.
When asked if they used any weapons, Nassaruddin said he could not see if they were armed.
He said he did see a mob attacking the fire truck with sticks, stones and helmets, which was corroborated by other witnesses in the inquest.
“I saw a mob of people climbing on the fire truck and hitting the side mirror – that’s when the truck backed out hitting the EMRS vehicle out of the way,” he said.
The inquest was ordered as there were no conclusive findings in the probe into how Adib was injured during the riots at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman temple on November 27 and 28 last year.
Police investigations revealed that there could be two possibilities as to what caused the fireman’s death: either he was beaten by a mob or was run over by a fire truck.
Adib was hospitalised for three weeks, and despite regaining consciousness and showing signs of recovery, he died on December 17 due to lung failure. – February 27, 2019.
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