KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 29 —  Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun today said the lawyer who is said to have sparked the riot at the the Sri Maha Mariamman Temple in USJ 25, Putra Heights, played the role of adviser to property developer One City Development Sdn Bhd.

When asked by reporters if the lawyer and his friend, who had since been arrested, acted on their own to hire thugs or if they were instructed by the developer, Fuzi said: “The lawyer is an adviser to the company. I don’t want to elaborate further at this point as it will contradict with statements from the Home Ministry and Selangor police’s ongoing investigations.

“All I can say is that the lawyer is an adviser to the company, One City,” he said after attending a forum on Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) here at the Royal Malaysian Police College in Cheras.

Fuzi added that the police have yet to record statements from the One City developers and said they will be called up soon.

Yesterday, Selangor police disclosed that the number of arrests over the riots at the Subang Hindu temple has risen to 30.

Selangor Police chief Datuk Mazlan Mansor said the police are expected to make more arrests soon.

The riots, sparked by a clash during protests against the temple relocation, left a firefighter seriously injured, several others also hurt, 23 cars torched and a section of the One City Mall damaged.