The 2018 Sri Maha Mariamman Temple riot was a rioting incident that took place for two days from 26 to 27 November 2018 at the Seafield Sri Maha Mariamman Temple site and also the surrounding area at USJ 25, Subang Jaya, Petaling, Selangor. The riot stemmed from a misunderstanding between the temple and the developer, One City Development Sdn. Bhd. in the issue of the transfer of the temple. As a result, the riot incident resulted in damage to public property and the death of a firefighter, Muhammad Adib bin Mohd Kassim. The riots had already received public attention and widespread coverage in the Malaysian mass media.
Incident
The first riot
On 26 November 2018 around 2:40 am, the Subang Jaya District Police Headquarters (IPD) Operations Room received a call from the public about the commotion incident at the temple. Immediately after receiving the report, the Subang Jaya District Police Chief ordered the police to move to the scene. At about 2:50 am, four police multi-purpose vehicles (MPVs) arrived at the scene but were barred from entering by a group of Indian men. The action caused the rear window of one of the MPVs that arrived to be broken while a trailer truck was parked horizontally to block the path leading to the temple. Therefore, at 3:30 am, the Subang Jaya District Police Chief contacted the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) and the Serdang IPD to seek additional assistance from members. Serdang IPD assistance arrived at the scene at 4:00 am.
At that point, the first riot erupted when there was a fight inside the temple between temple devotees and a group of Malay thugs who invaded the temple area until some were seriously injured. However, some of the thugs fled from the temple grounds after the fight broke out. Shortly after the incident, the Hindus involved set fire to several vehicles which were believed to be owned by the group of Malay men. A total of 18 vehicles were on fire. Around 5:00 am later, firefighters arrived at the scene to control the fire. The FRU team arrived at the scene at 5:30 am to quell the riot. The situation around the temple became under control by noon and the situation calmed down. Following the fights and riots that occurred, three Malay men and three Indian men were injured while a policeman was also injured.
Around 1:00 pm, a foreign man believed to be a construction worker was raided and beaten by the crowd until he was injured after allegedly starting a fire in a shared house in the temple area. The atmosphere around the temple, which was initially calm, turned chaotic again as a result of the action and to some extent, some people even blocked the police vehicle. The situation regained control after the man was rescued through a police vehicle and a team of FRU members patrolled the location. Firefighters then arrived to put out the fire in the shared house.
Chairman of the Task Force of the temple of S. Ramaji has claimed that the invasion was carried out around 2:00 am conducted by about 250 people from among the Malays and foreigners armed with knives, machetes, axes, sticks and others. Meanwhile, the Selangor Police Chief reported that 17 suspects had been arrested in connection with the unrest around the temple. The Deputy Inspector General of Police stressed that the riots had nothing to do with racial issues.
The second riot
Then in the late afternoon of 26 November, the crowd regrouped and this situation led to a second riot in the early morning of 27 November which was joined by about 10,000 Indians. During the riot, several more vehicles were set on fire by rioters. Firefighters who arrived at the fire area were also stopped and attacked by rioters. The group of rioters attack the developer's premises around 2:00 am at Menara MCT, about 1 kilometre from the temple, causing several vehicles to suffer damage and fire. This tension caused guests of nearby hotels to be evacuated to a safer place.
There was also a viral video footage showing two motorcyclists being beaten by rioters while passing through the street in front of the temple but were rescued and they lodged a police report shortly thereafter. The injuries they received were found to be mild. At 9:00 am, a survey around the temple and the developer's premises found that the situation had calmed down and was under control as guaranteed by the Selangor Police Chief, Datuk Mazlan Mansor.