Home Minister Muhyiddin Yassin is questioning where the lawyers allegedly behind the Monday morning Seafield temple melee got the money to hire a group of men to accost temple devotees.
Muhyiddin, however, went one step further and said that authorities have assumed there is a link between the lawyers and developers involved in the case.
"Our assumption is that they are (temple landowner) One City (Development Bhd) lawyers and they were given an allocation.
"I don't think the lawyers are so generous, surely there is a link to contributions from the company to solve the problem," Muhyiddin said at a press conference in Putrajaya today.
He said this when asked whether the lawyers had acted on One City's instruction or on their own.
Earlier, Muhyiddin revealed that police found that two lawyers had given RM150,000 to a man, who hired some 50 others to take over the Sri Maha Mariamman temple in Subang Jaya.
Those hired to carry out the task were allegedly paid between RM150 and RM300 each and were supposed to “hold” the temple until the developer and police arrive to facilitate its relocation.
Asked whether any action would be taken against One City, Muhyiddin said police will be questioning the lawyers.
The two lawyers are among the 21 individuals remanded by the police yesterday.
Plans to relocate the temple have been ongoing since 2007, after the land it is located on was purchased by One City.
In 2014, a consent judgment was entered in court, where One City and two rival camps vying for control of the temple agreed to relocate it to a plot of land three kilometres away.
One City had also donated RM1.5 million to the temple as part of the settlement agreement.
However, devotees have continued to resist efforts to relocate the temple, which has been a Hindu prayer site since 1891.
The Monday morning clash involving the hired men resulted in escalating violence culminating in a second gathering which damaged cars and the nearby One City Mall.
It was also during the second gathering that a fire and rescue personnel Muhammad Adib Mohd Kassim, 24, received life-threatening injuries.
He is currently being treated at the National Heart Institute (IJN).
Malaysiakini is contacting MTC Berhad, of which One City is a subsidiary, for a response. - Mkini
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