June 27, 2013: Police today released CCTV footage of a suspect at a Hindu temple only moments before part of it was set on fire.

The blaze ripped through a portable building close to the Adhya Shakti Mataji Temple in Hillingdon, west London.

The blaze caused major damage damage to the building but not to the temple.

Officers are now appealing to the public to identify the man seen near Cowley High Street at 12.13am.

Det Chief Insp Richard Turner said: “The person or people who started the fire gave no thought to the fact that the portakabin may have been occupied at the time. It is of paramount importance that we trace the individual who can be clearly been seen in the CCTV and I urge anyone who recognises him to come forward and tell us what they know.”

Detectives do not believe the fire is linked to either the blaze at an Islamic community centre in Muswell Hill or a fire which was started at an Islamic boarding school in Chislehurst.

Anyone with any information is urged to contact Hillingdon police’s community safety unit on 020 8246 1766, or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Source: London Evening Standard, DT. June 27, 2013.