KUALA LUMPUR, 8 Oct 2017:
A law lecturer at a public higher learning institution was among eight men detained for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities, in operations conducted between Sept 27 and Friday in Selangor, Sabah and Perak.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the 35-year-old Albanian man was detained in Selangor by the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division on Oct 1, as he was believed to have links to members of the Daesh terrorist group abroad.
He said the police also detained five men – two Filipinos, two locals and a permanent resident from the Philippines, aged between 30 to 53 – on Sept 27 in Sandakan, Sabah.
“The five are believed to be involved in helping to bring in elements from the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) terrorists into Malaysia through Sabah. This operation is a follow-up to the arrest of seven individuals from the ASG cells on Sept 14 in Kuala Lumpur,” he said in a statement yesterday.
He said the third arrest on Friday (Oct 6) involved two ex-convicts under the Special Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 in Tapah, Perak, who were previously arrested on 7 Feb 2013 for engaging in terrorist activities.
He said the first suspect, aged 53, who had been detained under the Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA) had also undergone a detention order under the Internal Security Act 1960 for seven years.
According to him, the suspect was believed to have been recruiting prisoners in the Tapah prison to join a terrorist group and planned to launch attacks on Muslim, Christian and Hindu houses of worship to spark inter-religious conflicts in the country.
“The suspects is also believed to be withholding information about one of the members of the Tandzim Al-Qaeda Malaysia (TAQM) group, who is wanted by the police.”
Another 37-year-old detainee was also suspected of recruiting two Malaysians to join the TAQM group, he said.
– Bernama