Firearms theft foiled
> Cops nab IS duo planning to steal weapons from police headquarters
KUALA LUMPUR: Two suspected militants with sinister plans to steal firearms from federal police headquarters in Bukit Aman and kill non-Muslims were sniffed out and arrested by the police Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division.
The male suspects were a 25-year-old teacher of a private religious school in Subang Jaya, who was arrested on Dec 23, and a 23-year-old Indonesian construction worker who was held last Wednesday.
The teacher has a previous criminal record for militancy and was arrested in Dec 2015 under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012.
After being sentenced to 18 months’ jail, he was freed six months earlier in Nov 2016 on account of good behaviour. However, the man slipped back into militant activities.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said yesterday that the teacher had plotted to pull off robberies, kidnapping and murders on non-Muslims, justifying his actions, according to his religious beliefs, as “halal” or permissible.
He said the suspect had also promoted the Islamic State’s (IS) Salafi Jihadi ideology on his Facebook page to recruit followers.
Mohamad Fuzi said the suspect was also in contact with former IS and senior members of the Kumpulan Militan Malaysia (KMM) who were previously arrested by police.
As for the Indonesian worker, he said the foreigner had made plans to launch attacks on Bukit Aman, the Travers police station in Brickfields and military camps in order to seize firearms from the weapons armoury.
Mohamad Fuzi said investigators learnt that the man had planned to use them to launch attacks in Malaysia and Indonesia.
He said in November last year the suspect, who was armed with a knife, had plotted to go to Jalan Pudu to kill Buddhist monks in retaliation for the alleged cruelty of the Myanmar government against the Rohingya community. However, his plan did not materialise.
Police found the knife in his possession during his arrest last week.
“He was also involved in recruiting Indonesians to join IS and was in contact with a senior IS militant through the WhatsApp application. To prove that IS militants were still active in Malaysia, he had raised and placed a flag of the group at a construction site where he worked.” he said.
Both suspects were held under Sosma and are being investigated for militancy.