KUCHING, Jan 3: The Council of Churches of Malaysia (CCM) expressed shock over the air bomb attack that took place in front of the Luther Centre, Petaling Jaya, an hour after midnight on Jan 1.
The incident injured three people who were churchgoers.
They were hit by debris from an air bomb which was made from modified fragments of fireworks.
“The CCM strongly condemns the actions of those who were responsible for this crime that took place at the entrance of the Luther Centre, where people were holding a midnight worship (session) to greet the new year,” said CCM secretary-general Rev Dr Hermen Shastri in a statement.
Hermen said police investigations so far suggest the incident was caused by a group of Mat Rempits and was not motivated by religious hate.
“We call upon the police to intensify their investigations and take stern measures to curb such “Mat Rempit” menace, before other similar incidents occur causing danger to innocent pedestrians, or even worse, target religious places with greater frequency. We also urged the police to increase vigilance of religious places during religious festivals and during public holidays.”
Confirming the incident with DayakDaily, Petaling Jaya police chief Assistant Commissioner Mohd Zani Che Din said two groups of Mat Rempits on motorcycles were pursued by members of a rival group before the incident.
“The groups were throwing air bombs at each other and unfortunately, the incident took place in front of the church. Two pieces of explosives were thrown and landed in the church compound when the congregation were about to leave,” Zani said.
He added that police had ruled out sabotage of the church. No arrests have been made so far and there were no CCTV cameras along the road to record the incident. — DayakDaily
