The Northcroft Hindu Dharma Sabha has distanced itself from "false implications" that stolen fireworks found at the premises in Phoenix were unlawfully obtained.
Yesterday, police raided the temple and found R4 million worth of fireworks stolen during an armed robbery at a business premises in Camperdown.
Three men, who were offloading the fireworks, were arrested and a hired truck used in the robbery was recovered at the temple and seized by police.
No temple officials were arrested, according to a statement released by the temple's chairperson, Reshmee Jaikishor.
“The Northcroft Hindu Dharma Sabha withdraws itself from messages circulating with pictures of stock withheld at the temple, falsely implicating the temple in the unfortunate incident.
“The sale of fireworks during this auspicious time of Diwali has been taking place for many years at the temple, located in Northcroft. Yesterday, October 22, a truck expected to deliver stock to us, unfortunately contained stolen goods, which was confirmed by the SAPS who arrived at the scene. The sabha is not in any way affiliated with the theft of these goods… or have any agreement to have knowingly purchased stolen goods,” the statement read.
Temple officials appealed to the public to stop harsh comments on social media and said they have legal representatives pursuing defamation cases against social media users.
“The public is advised to refrain from making harsh comments on social media regarding the place of worship and Hindu culture. We are following all legal measures and have involved legal representatives to act on the temple's behalf regarding the defamation that is going around on social media groups.
"This is an intelligence driven operation and no assumptions should be made. We continue to uphold our absolute set of duties and religious practices in good faith,” the statement added.
Captain Carmen Rhynes, the eThekwini District police spokesperson, said detectives were following up on further information to lead to the recovery of the two trailers that were stolen, together with some of the outstanding fireworks which were not recovered at the temple.
The three men arrested at the temple were charged for being in possession of stolen property and are expected to appear in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court this week.
Rhynes said the arrest of further suspects was imminent.