It was initially reported that the incident was a result of road rage with no relations to Hakan's journalism, though it later emerged that three of the four attackers were AKP members, who were later suspended from the party.[19][20] Abdurrahim Boynukalın, who had previously led a mob of 200 AKP supporters to attack the Hürriyet newspaper headquarters, was initially seen as a suspect, but later released a statement denying any link to the attack.[21] Seven people were taken into custody for the attack, with only one being arrested. One of the suspects involved claimed that the police had paid them ₺25,000 to carry out the attack, alleging that the National Intelligence Organisation (MİT), the police and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were all aware of the plot.[22]