Stolen temple diamond: Thief beaten till unconscious

Stolen temple diamond: Thief beaten till unconscious

MALAYSIA - A 200-year-old diamond was reported stolen from the Goddess of Mercy Temple in Jalan Masjid Kapitan Keling in Georgetown, Penang, at about 1.10pm on Monday.

The suspect was apprehended, but the diamond has yet to be found.

It was believed that the suspect, a man, broke the glass pane housing the statue of the Kuan Yin deity with a hammer.

He then took the diamond off the forehead of the deity's statue, reported Malaysia's The Star.

The temple's operations director, who is known only as Mr Tan, said devotees were alerted by the sound of glass breaking.

Apprehended

The devotees gave chase when they saw the suspect and they beat him up until he lost consciousness.

Mr Tan said the diamond is a priceless artefact.

It had been in the temple since the it was built more than two centuries ago.

The incident happened less than a week after the temple reopened its main hall after the renovations.

In a separate incident, the founder of Arab Malaysian Banking Group, Mr Hussain Ahmad Najadi, was shot dead on Monday afternoon at a carpark in Kuala Lumpur. His wife, Madam Cheong Mei Kuen, was also shot but survived.

The incident took place at about 1.50pm at a carpark near a temple at Lorong Ceylon, reported Malaysia's The Star.

According to the police, the 75-year-old Iranian passport holder was heading towards his car when the suspect fired shots at him and his Malaysian wife.

He was shot in his chest and left rib and died at the scene, while his wife suffered injuries to her hand and is in a stable condition in hospital.

CCTV recordings showed that the suspect was wearing a long-sleeved shirt and brown khaki pants.


Get The New Paper for more stories.

 

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.