Tan SRI Khalid Abu Bakar
KUALA LUMPUR: A student of a private higher education institution (IPTS) was among 14 individuals arrested in five states from July 14-20 on suspicion of being involved with the terrorist group, Daesh.
The suspects were arrested by the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division in Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Penang and Sabah. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspects comprised 13 men and a woman, all of whom are local residents aged between 20 and 49.
“Of the total, four of them were not working, three were self-employed, two worked as cooks at a franchise restaurant in the Klang Valley, two were employees of private companies, as well as a mechanic, a welder, and an IPTS student. Our investigations showed that 12 of the suspects arrested in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor, Penang and Sabah were members of the same cell who were arrested in the operation late last month,” Khalid said in a statement yesterday.
Khalid said they were suspected of receiving instructions from Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi to launch attacks in Malaysia.
“One of the suspects confessed to having shared methods of making ‘Improvised Explosive Devices’ (IED) through messaging application Telegram, with other Daesh members. The suspect also confessed to receiving instructions from Muhammad Wanndy to produce IEDs for attacks in the Klang Valley, and received a pistol from the latter through an intermediary, as a measure of self-defense in case of an arrest by the police,” he said.
He said the 49-year-old suspect arrested in Kedah was the right-hand man of the group, and was actively recruiting new members around Sik, Kedah, as well as responsible for sending members to Syria to join Daesh.
Khalid said meanwhile, the 43-year-old female suspect who was arrested in Perak actively promoted Daesh and planned to sneak into the southern Philippines to join the group.
“From the search, the police seized an IED weighing one kilogramme which was fully assembled, to be used in terror attacks planned,” he said. — Bernama