About 150 followers of Ayah Pin in the two-hectare commune near Jerteh in Hulu Besut, Terengganu, still fear for their lives following the attack by 50 unknown persons early Monday morning.

The pre-dawn attack left a number of the bizarre-looking structures - the commune's centre piece - scorched in parts and burnt tyres lying around.

And while they are still recovering from the incident, almost the entire village was bussed to the Besut district police headquarters this morning to be questioned by the state religious authorities.

There they were told that they will be charged tomorrow morning under the Syariah Criminal Offences Act and if found guilty could be fined and jailed up to two years.

Met at the police station this morning, villlager Ruhizzul Azwan Sajit said that he and the others - 58 in all - were being questioned on their involvement in the Sky Kingdom movement.

"We are worried too that we might be charged for violating the 1987 fatwa (a religious edict against Ayah Pin's teachings)," he said.

He also added that in the event the villagers are charged and subsequently released on police bail, there won't be anyone left in their village to bail them as they are all at the police headquarters.

Later in the day, Ruhizzul's worries became true when a state religious enforcement officer confirmed to malaysiakini that the villagers will be charged at the Besut Syariah court tomorrow morning for violating the fatwa .

The officer also said that the total number of villagers brought in for questioning was 58, including 30 women, all aged between 14 and 65. Amongst them were also Ayah Pin's two children.

By 6pm, only two of the villagers have managed to get bailors. All the women, including five children, have been taken to the Jerteh police station to be held overnight while the men were placed at the Besut police lockup following their failure to obtain bailors.

Villager cordoned

Meanwhile a malaysiakini visit to the remote village 13 miles from Jerteh yesterday revealed tight security by General Operations Force personnel who cordoned off the area to all visitors and the media.

Only local villagers were allowed entry based on a name list compiled by the police.

Five cars in the village were badly smashed up and broken glass was strewn all over the place. A car owner said her audio player was stolen.

Villagers estimate damage to property at around RM500,000.

Met at the commune yesterday, Ruhizzul, 30, described the mob attack as "totally unexpected".

"We fear another attack. Most of us are still traumatised by the incident. We knew better than to fight back. We definitely wouldn't have been able to defend ourselves," he said.

"We were sabotaged. They cut off the phone line first before swarming the village. There was no way of getting help. Luckily, one of us managed to call the police from a nearby village."

Two hours later, police and fire services personnel arrived at the village. By then, the fires had been extinguished by the villagers.

Series of explosions

However, there has been no sign of 65 year-old Ayah Pin, or Ariffin Mohammad, since the incident.

District and state police were unavailable for further clarification.

Ruhizzul was on sentry duty at a structure symbolising Noah's Ark about 5am when he heard the sound of car doors slamming at the main road junction.

"Almost immediately I saw figures clad in white and dark-coloured flowing robes with white cloth tied around their hats jumping over fences.

"I heard a series of explosions from different directions, including one close to me. I dashed home and peeked from a window to see the chaos unfolding outside."

He said the mob moved quickly and spread out among the network of buildings before lobbing improvised Motolov cocktails and threw used tyres.

"I saw someone throw a bicycle through one of the large windows of the main hall and shatter it. Someone else was burning the hall's entrance.

"We didn't resist because we were very afraid for our lives. I was especially worried about the children and women because they did threaten to kill us if we ever venture out."

Ruhizzul said they went to put out the fires after the mob left about 20 minutes later.

Car smashed

Another eye-witness Amirah Mohamed, 29, said she woke up to feed her three-year-old son when she heard the commotion.

"I was so frightened. I heard footsteps alongside my house and opened the window to see what was happening.

"I got a shock of my life to see a man shining his torch straight at my face and shouting in the local Kelantanese dialect that he will kill me if I ever stepped out," she said, fear mirrored in her eyes as she recalled the incident.

"The man said 'I did not come to kill you... stay inside.' My car was smashed and player stolen.

"I heard someone asking if the houses should also be burned but another voice said no. I shudder to think what would have happened then."

Amirah said no one saw the attackers' faces because it was dark and some of them had covered their faces with ski masks.

"We don't know who did this but I'm afraid they will return to do more damage. They may not spare our lives the next time."

Teenager Yuslam Mohd Yusoff who was at the umbrella-like structure symbolising the protection afforded to believers of Ayah Pin saw the carnage taking place.

"I saw people rushing from the main road junction towards our village shouting 'Allahu Akbar repeatedly'.

"They went about smashing the lights within the structures, toppling over and breaking flower pots and breaking the buildings' windows including those of a few houses.

"The men also set fire to almost everything they could reach. I helped to put out the fire after they left. No one dared come out during the incident."

No sign of Ayah Pin

Yuslam, 19, said he feared for the safety of the children.

"Luckily, most were still sound asleep. Only those awake were screaming in fear. Many of us, particularly the womenfolk, are traumatised by the episode."

The villagers claimed they did not know where Ayah Pin, of Ariffin Mohammad, 65, had escaped to with his four wives.

"The last some of us saw him was on Sunday. No one knows where they are now. We haven't heard from him since."

The previous night, Ayah Pin's followers had heard about a demonstration the next morning but had not anticipated a violent attack.

Ruhizzul said the demonstration were organised by villagers from the surrounding areas and members of Umno Youth and Islam Hadhari groups.

Met at the GOF checkpoint outside the village, Ayah Pin's right-hand man Rosly Abdul Samad said thousands had gathered by 9am shouting slogans and carrying banners.

"They wanted the village destroyed, labelling us devil worshippers. It is a scary thought of what could have happened to us," he said, adding he was not sure if both incidents were somehow connected.

Since Monday's attack, villagers said they were thankful for the round-the-clock police presence patrolling the area.

"They have been helpful and have assured us that everything was under control," said Ruhizzul.

"I don't know what will happen when the police leave."

Foreigner nabbed

In a related development, AFP reports that a woman from New Zealand was among those arrested by the religious authorities this morning

"The New Zealand woman arrested is Judith Lilian, 54 years old," Muhammad Ramli Nuh, deputy chairman of a state religious committee, told the Bernama news agency. Other officials said she converted to Islam eight years ago.

The New Zealand High Commission said it had been in contact with Lilian.

"We spoke to her this afternoon and she did tell us she was detained along with others," said spokesman Kevin Kay. "If she is a New Zealand citizen we will want to find out more about the circumstances and the charges made."