NSW Police have sought help from a Sydney Sikh Temple in connection with a group of men reportedly screaming “Allahu Akbar” while entering a western Sydney cinema, leaving customers rattled.
Police officers were called at the Hoyts Blacktown at Westpoint shopping centre on Sunday night after reports of a disturbance.
Investigators were told four men yelled comments within two cinemas at the complex causing some concerned customers to leave the building, a police spokesman told AAP.
On Monday, officers from the Local Area Command visited the Sikh Temple in Glendwood and sought help from the management of the temple in identifying four men captured on a surveillance camera.
“The officers told the chairman [of the committee] that these men were not charged and they just wanted to speak to them to clear their doubt,” Jagtar Singh of the Australian Sikh Association told SBS Punjabi.
“We have shared their photo with the people around but no one so far has come forward, or said they know these men,” he added.
Several members of Sydney's Indian community have shared the photo on social media, appealing for the men to contact the police.
Cinemagoers told News Corp Australia the group of men shouted Allahu Akbar before they fled. One of the cinemas was showing Baywatch.
One customer, who was watching the film with her family, told 9NEWS she was terrified.
“Is this it?” the woman said she thought.
“Are we going to die?”
The cry means "God is great" in Arabic.
Police officers searched the Hoyts and found nothing suspicious.
No one has been charged yet but investigations are continuing, the police spokesman said on Tuesday.
Please note: the following update has been published by SBS Punjabi on Wednesday, June 14:
