M Nagaraju, who leads a faction in the temple committee, said he did not know who was responsible for burning or damaging the vehicles parked outside the temple premises.
Nagaraju, the 10th prosecution witness, was cross-examined today by lawyer R Kirthiraj, representing one of the accused, Muhammad Saifullah Abdullah.
Referring to his evidence under examination-in-chief last October, Nagaraju, 66, said he maintained his stand that he was neither injured nor bleeding when about 200 youths, mostly armed with sticks, stormed the temple to take control of the premises.
He also concurred with the lawyer that he did not refer to any one of the accused in the witness statement.
“I also did not lodge a report about the rioting on Nov 27, 2018,” he said.
The first riot erupted after a group of youths invaded the temple area in the wee hours of Nov 26, 2018 and started a fight with devotees inside the temple.
During the second riot, Adib, who was based at the Subang Jaya fire station, was seriously injured.
He was among nine firemen who arrived in the area to put out a fire in the pre-dawn hours of Nov 27.
Coroner Rofiah Mohamad ruled in September 2019 that “more than two unidentified persons” had killed Adib, 24, who succumbed to his injuries three weeks later, on Dec 17.
The government has set up a committee to further investigate the death of Adib and a report is expected in April.
Apart from Saifullah, the 16 charged are Muhammad Riduan Sekh Ruslan, Irwan Noordin, Mohamad Khairi Abdul Rashid, Rozaihan Zakaria, Muhammad Qayyum Mohd Faisal, Mohd Ashraf Mohd Faizal, Absal Eastrie Abdullah, Mohamed Jalil Talib, Muhammad Khairol Anuar Zabidi, Mohd Zamri Md Said, Shukri Razali, Nor Azmi Abdul Ghani, Mohammad Shahril Danniel Sajeel, Muhammad Hasneezam Shah Samsudin, Akmal Izzat Azi and Mohd Norul Ismawi Islahuddin.
Aged between 23 and 46, they are accused of rioting and being in possession of dangerous weapons between 2am and 5am on Nov 26.
The charge, under Section 148 of the Penal Code, carries a maximum jail term of five years or a fine, or both, upon conviction.
Deputy public prosecutor Mohamed Wafi Husain told magistrate Muhammad Iskandar Zainol that 10 more witnesses would take the stand when the trial resumes for four days from March 14.