Police today assured that the investigation papers on the case of a resort’s surau in Sedili Besar, near Kota Tinggi, being used for a Buddhist religious ceremony recently, would be completed soonest possible.

Johor police chief Mohd Mokhtar Mohd Shariff said they now needed to sort out certain matters and the recorded statements before the investigation papers would be resubmitted to the public prosecutor for further action.

“We had submitted the papers yesterday to the Prosecution Unit head but after a discussion, we were ordered to fine-tune the investigation papers pertaining to certain matters and the recorded statements,” he told reporters in Johor Baru today.

Mokhtar said a special team headed by Johor deputy police chief Ismail Yatim would be going through the investigation papers today and do the necessary.

Meanwhile, Mokhtar advised all parties to let police handle the case and not act rashly to avoid any undesirable incident.

He said he was briefed that some individuals would gather in Tanjung Sedili after Friday prayers tomorrow to hold a demonstration over the surau incident.

“Police have investigated the case and remanded the resort owner. So, we hope all parties will exercise patience and not hold a demonstration which can disrupt public order,” he said.

Last Saturday, residents of a fishing village in Sedili Besar reportedly  became angry and chased out a group of Buddhists from Singapore who were chanting prayers in the surau of a holiday resort nearby.

The group’s activity was earlier realised by a visitor to the resort when he wanted to perform his Asar prayers at the surau.

Following the incident, the 45-year-old resort owner, a Singaporean with permanent resident status in Malaysia is being remanded for four days to facilitate the police investigation.

- Bernama