Former teacher among 20 nabbed suspected militants
KUALA LUMPUR: A former primary school teacher in Kuching was among 20 individuals detained by the police on suspicion of involvement in terrorist groups during operations conducted between last Nov 30 and Dec 15 in Johor, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Sabah.
Inspector- General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the 46-year- old man was detained by the Bukit Aman Special Branch’s Counter Terrorism Division at the KL International Airport ( KLIA), Sepang, Selangor, on Dec 1.
“The suspect is a member of a WhatsApp chat group called ‘ The Rise of Jundullah’, which is involved in the planning of an attack at the Better Beer Festival 2017. The suspect had also planned to sneak into the southern Philippines to join a terrorist group there,” he said in a statement yesterday.
Mohamad Fuzi said on Nov 30, police detained an Indonesian man in Pontian, Johor, who was believed to be involved in a bombing incident in Bandung, Indonesia, in July, before sneaking into the country to avoid being caught by the Indonesian authorities.
The 24-year- old suspect was one of the senior leaders of the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah group who planned to raise funds in Malaysia before leaving for Syria to join the Daesh group, he said.
Mohamad Fuzi said fou r Indonesian men, aged between 31 and 38, were nabbed on Dec 4 in Sandakan, Sabah with the cooperation of the Eastern Sabah Security Command.
He said the four suspects, who entered the country illegally from Tarakan and Nunukan in Indonesia also planned to sneak into the southern Philippines to join the terrorist group there.
On Dec 6, he said, a 50-yearold Filipino man, believed to have family ties with the top leadership of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) was detained here on suspicion of recruiting Filipinos in the Kepong area to join ASG.
He said 11 men, including five Filipinos, aged between 16 and 47, were picked up in Sandakan, Sabah on Dec 10, on suspicion of attempting to join a terrorist group in the southern Philippines.
On the same day, the police also arrested a Filipino man in Masai, Johor, who was on the wanted list of the Philippine authorities for suspected involvement in terrorist activities in that country.
The latest arrest was made at KLIA on Dec 15 involving a 31-yearold man from a northern African country for alleged involvement in the Daesh group in Iraq and Syria.
“All of the suspects will be investigated in accordance with procedures under the Security Of fences ( Special Measures) Act 2012 ( Act 747),” he said. — Bernama