Police were informed about the presence of a group of people who held 'suspicious activities' in a Selangor village two years ago but no action was taken until it was discovered later that they were alleged leaders of the Jemaah Islamiah the terrorist organisation blamed for the deadly Bali bombings.

Nuzwan Nuiman, the village chief of Kampung Sungai Manggis in Banting, Selangor about 90 minutes northeast of Kuala Lumpur said he began to get worried in early 2000 when the group attracted some people from the local mosque to their usrah (religious study group) at a rented house-cum-surau.

The villagers were also suspicious of the activities carried out at the house due to its 'secrecy' and the presence of outsiders, especially at night.

He told malaysiakini that the villagers were worried that the rented house which was occupied by alleged top leaders of JI, Indonesian clerics Abu Bakar Bashir and Riduan Isamuddin alias Hambali was used to spread deviationist Islamic thinking.

"The village security and development committee had a meeting. One of our committee members was a police officer and he promised to check things out for us," he said.

"We requested him to investigate what was happening there and find out who were the people behind it," said Nuzwan, who has been heading the committee for the past six years.

However, he said the local police did not find anything wrong with the usrah .