TRIO PLANNED TO ATTACK BEER FESTIVAL, SAYS IGP
Fuzi says suspects experimented with IEDs
SEVERAL locations in the Klang Valley, including a beer festival, entertainment outlets and places of worships for non-Muslims, had been targeted by a group of militants for not portraying the nation as an Islamic country.
The group, comprising a 19year-old Form Six student, former soldier and a contractor, were picked up by counterterrorism operatives at a restaurant in Kelantan last Tuesday. They are believed to have ties with the Islamic State (IS) militant group.
On Tuesday, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the trio experimented with homemade bombs called improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Among their targets were the Better Beer Festival 2017, which was scheduled to take place at Publika in Hartamas here before it was cancelled by City Hall; nonMuslim places of worship; and entertainment outlets that sell alcohol.
The teenager, a student at a school in Pasir Putih, was believed to have been the one who was responsible for producing the IEDs.
He was believed to have detonated a pipe bomb in an open area on Sept 28, and made another attempt at a field near his house a few days later. The second attempt, however, failed.
Another suspect, who was arrested with the teenager, was a 34-year-old former soldier, who was a construction worker, said Fuzi.
He said this suspect’s role was to collect money from sympathisers to fund the cost of the IEDs.
“The raiding team seized paraphernalia used to produce the IEDs, three pipe bombs weighing 800g, which are enough to cause damage and fatalities within a 30m radius, a pipe bomb weighing 600g believed to be the bomb that did not explode in their experiments, firecrackers, two mobile phones and a paper with drawings believed to be the formula used to produce the bombs.”
On whether the mobile phones were used as detonators for the bombs, Fuzi said initial findings revealed they were not.
It is learnt that the teenager used carbide powder for the explosive and ball bearings to serve as shrapnel in the IEDs.
The third man arrested, said Fuzi, was a 25-year-old contractor from Perak.
Asked if the trio had received orders to conduct the attacks, Fuzi said investigations were ongoing.
Initial investigations, however, revealed that the contractor had ties with the “Gagak Hitam” IS cells, which were responsible for the Movida Pub bombing last year.
However, Fuzi declined to elaborate.
On how the trio possessed the skills to produce the IEDs, he said there were many factors, including the fact that one was a former soldier, adding that they had also gleaned some knowledge from the Internet.
Fuzi said police did not make things up when they said they had received information on militants planning to sabotage the beer festival earlier this month.
The force had come under criticism from certain quarters who claimed police were making things up to justify the decision of City Hall in not allowing the festival to take place.
“That (the allegation of police making up the information) is nonsense. We always take proactive measures as we do not want anything bad to happen. We take immediate action to avoid untoward incidents and maintain security.”
He said, since 2013, there were eight unsuccessful attempts by militants to carry out attacks in the country, with this being the ninth attempt thwarted by the police.
Since January, he said, police had arrested 78 people for suspected links to IS.
He said police were on the lookout for 53 Malaysians in Syria and five in Marawi in the southern Philippines who were at large.
On whether there had been intelligence reports indicating they wanted to return to Malaysia, he said: “They will be arrested if they come back.”
On another matter, he said intelligence revealed that Malaysia’s most wanted terrorist, Dr Mahmud Ahmad, would most likely be the leader of the Abu Sayyaf group following the death of its former leader, Isnilion Hapilon.
“I cannot confirm (if Mahmud took over the helm) as they are operating outside the country, but intel has revealed that it is most likely to be him.”