MUAR: Two surau (mini-mosques), one in Jalan Ismail Omar and the other in Jalan Salleh, here, sustained minor damage after arson attempts were made on them in the early hours of yesterday.Johor deputy police chief Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said the attempt on Surau Silaturahim in Jalan Ismail Omar happened at around 2.30am while the one on Surau Parit Beting in Jalan Salleh, which is located about two kilometres from the first, was believed to have been at about the same time.
“Three men passing by Surau Silaturahim in a car noticed a fire at it about 2.30am and took action to extinguish the flames before lodging a police report,” he told reporters at the Muar police headquarters here.
He said some curtains and part of a window caught fire in the incident at Surau Silatarahim and that police found traces of kerosene residue at the window concerned.
“At Surau Parit Beting, burn marks were noticed at its main entrance door at 11am when a religious teacher came to conduct religious classes at the surau and subsequently a police report was lodged at 1.30pm,” he said.
He added that losses were estimated at around RM300 for each of the surau and that investigations were ongoing. —Bernama