PUTRAJAYA (Nov 28): A police investigation reveals that lawyers from a developer company hired a group of Malay men to “take control” of the situation at a Hindu temple in Selangor last Monday but they intruded into the house of worship, Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin disclosed today.

He said two lawyers of the company, One City Development Sdn Bhd, were among the 21 people the police have arrested to assist in the investigation into the riots near the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Putra Heights, near Subang Jaya early Monday and yesterday.

The incidents were not racial at all but stemmed from a dispute between One City Development and the temple administration committee over ownership of the land on which the temple stands, he said at a press conference at the ministry.

Muhyiddin said those linked to the company had not complied with the process of acquisition of the temple site as planned in accordance with the legal provisions.

He said the head of the group of men had been given RM150,000 to “exercise control” over the temple and that the 50 people hired for the task had been paid between RM150 and RM300 each.