An excavator was torched and a religious officer beaten up by an angry crowd in protest against the excavation of graves belonging to family members to make way for a condominium and private hospital.

Workers who were carrying out the earthwork at the burial ground along Jalan Keretapi in Kuching fled the area after seeing a huge crowd heading towards the graveyard on hearing news of the excavation.

By 8am, 100 people of mostly relatives of the dead took over the Muslim cemetery with the police keeping a close watch on the crowd.

Senior opposition PKR leaders led by state party advisor Wan Zainal Abidin Wan Senusi, state liaison chief Dominique Ng and his deputy, Baharuddin Mokhsen and Youth chief Idil Rahamat were seen advising the crowd to remain calm.

However, the situation got out of hand when religious officer Kamil Duet arrived at 9.30am and was subsequently surrounded and beaten up by angry relatives despite that he was being escorted by uniformed police officers.

Kamil, who is the elder brother of Sarawak most famous Quran reciter, Ismawi, was eventually led to safety by the police.

The angry mob then turned their attention to an excavator left behind by workers and set it on fire.

Baharuddin told Malaysiakini that family members could not hold their emotion as the authorities promised a meeting to resolve the issue only after Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration in October.

"We demand an explanation from the government on why no respect was accorded to the dead and their family members when this involved very sensitive religious matter," he stressed.

Let them rest in peace

Baharuddin said affected family members have lodged a police report and would seek redress in court if the authorities press on with the excavation.

"This graveyard housed patriots like Haji Baki, and some have been here for many years, probably hundreds of years. There other land for development, why don't turn this into a memorial park and let these people here rest in peace?" he said.

Meanwhile, a well-placed source in the Land and Survey Department told Malaysiakini that the cemetery is part of state land and was never officially declared a burial site.

"The Islamic Department have been told to vacate the land and make the necessary arrangement to relocate the graves to Samariang," he said.

Sources told Malaysiakini that the proposed project to build the condominium and private hospital was being undertaken by a politically well-connected family.

"Soil testing for EIA (environment impact assessment) has been carried out, but most of the local Chinese would not buy a condo on such a site," he said.

Watch a 5-min video of the event here .