THE suspects who allegedly started the fracas at the Nothing to Hide 2.0 forum yesterday were paid RM50 each to attend the event, police said.

It is learnt that they were among a group of youths asked to wait in Setiawangsa, where they were handed out T-shirts with the Bersatu logo, sources close to the investigation said.

Selangor police, with Shah Alam police taking the lead, are currently going through photos and recordings to identify others in the group. Only three youths are currently in remand. Their four-day remand ends on Thursday.

The trio in police custody are being investigated under Section 15(2)d of Peaceful Assembly Act, Section 153 of the Penal Code for rioting and Section 8 of Corrosive and Explosive Substance and Offensive Weapons Act.

The forum yesterday turned chaotic when individuals in the crowd started to throw shoes and water bottles at the stage where Bersatu chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad was answering questions from the floor. As the crowd turned rowdy, Dr Mahathir and other Pakatan Harapan leaders were escorted out to safety.

Bersatu’s security unit apprehended three males aged 17, 18 and 19, and subsequently handed them over to the police.

Bersatu Youth chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the three were not party members and that they had worn “fake” party T-shirts to the event.

A police source told The Malaysian Insight that urine tests were conducted on the suspects to see if they were under the influence of drugs but the results were negative.

Background checks were also done on the three and the minor was found to be a school dropout form Perlis. The 18- and 19-year olds are college students in Kuala Lumpur.

Checks also revealed that the 18-year-old has a criminal record and is involved in an ongoing rape trial. – August 14, 2017.