Officials from the Besut land office and the police have visited the village of self-proclaimed spiritual leader Ayah Pin near Jerteh to survey the land.

Villager Mohd Noor Awang, 64, said 16 officials arrived at Kampung Batu 13 in Hulu Besut, Terengganu, around 10am yesterday, accompanied by two uniformed police officers.

"I kept asking an official who claimed to be from the land office for an explanation about the sudden need to survey the land... and whether there was any problem," he said, when contacted by malaysiakini following a tip-off.

"All he said was that they were following instructions from their superiors."

Mohd Noor said the team went about measuring the land, counting the number of houses and photographing the entire village including the giant structures in the commune before leaving at 1pm.

"They asked permission to take the photos and do the survey. Then they measured the land and buildings," he said, saying the official was a familiar person but that he did not know his name.

He also said that the land office team arrived in two Pajeros bearing the department logo, an unmarked van and four Proton cars. Barring the police, all the officials were in plainclothes.

Villagers of Kampung Batu 13 have been accused of following the deviant teachings of Ayah Pin, whose real name is Ariffin Mohammad, for over a decade.

'Routine check'

Besut assistant land administrator Mohd Iskandar Abdul Aziz confirmed that he was at the village with the team conducting the survey and "general monitoring".

"We surveyed the buildings to identify old and new ones. This is the first such survey for this year. It's a routine check," he said when contacted in Besut.

"We had to locate the stones marking the borders of the village to ensure that neighbouring lands have not been encroached upon by Ariffin and the village."

The stone markers were subsequently discovered by six land office officers and their assistants buried in sand.

Mohd Iskandar said two officers photographed the houses and structures found on the land measuring slightly more than two hectares and which is surrounded by privately-owned land.

"This is part of our continuous monitoring exercise. In fact, we conducted a similar survey several times last year," he said, explaining that the police officers were on standby to ensure security.

Besut district police chief Mohd Soaihimi Rahim declined to comment, while Hulu Besut state assemblyperson Nawi Mohamad could not be reached.

Applications rejected

Contacted during a visit to Kuala Lumpur, Ayah Pin said he learnt about the land office survey after villagers called him early today.

"About 3-4 months ago, a similar survey was conducted on the buildings in the village by four officials from the land office," he recalled.

"Rumours were rife then that the area had been earmarked for a proposed university but we later heard that the plan had been scrapped. We were unable to confirm the rumour with Umno headquarters."

He also clarified that his first wife Che Minah Ramli, in her 50s, is the legitimate holder of the title to the land and was still living at the village.

Ayah Pin said all land matters are now handled by a Kuala Lumpur-based lawyer.

When contacted, Haris Mohamed Ibrahim confirmed that Che Minah had appointed him to handle the legal aspects of the land.

On yesterday's land office survey, he said: "I just spoke to the villagers. There is nothing to say for now as the land office did not give any official letter to them.

"But I've already advised them to immediately contact me the moment they received any official letter from the land office."

He said repeated applications to convert the village land from agriculture to building has been rejected.

"Our application last year was rejected by the Besut land office in March, but we will re-apply soon," he said.

The plan, added Haris, is to make Che Minah's application for conversion of land use an annual event.

On Monday, the Terengganu government is trying to build an airtight case to prove similar charges against the self-styled spiritual guru and a possible violation of land use conditions under state laws.