KUALA LUMPUR: Nine men including a 17-year-old teenager have been detained by Bukit Aman’s Counter Terrorism Special Branch for suspected involvement in Daesh militant activities.
Inspector-general of police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspects aged between 17 and 56 were nabbed in an operation around Johor, Sabah, Kelantan and the federal capital between July 20 and Aug 9.
He said some of the suspects had been planning to carry out a number of attacks in the country including on Bukit Aman and an entertainment centre in Johor.
According to him, the teen who was detained in Sabah had planned to carry out a lone wolf attack to slaughter non Muslims in Sandakan. The teenager had also issued threats in his Facebook account about killing the IGP.
“Another suspect, aged 26, who was detained in Johor had planned to carry out attacks on Bukit Aman and the government administrative complex in Putrajaya,” he said in a statement here today.
Khalid said the 26-year-old suspect was believed to be receiving orders from Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, a Malaysian Daesh terrorist group member in Syria.
He said three foreigners who were former soldiers, were detained on suspicion of using Malaysia as a transit to obtain fake travel documents.
“They also planned to launch attacks in a country in the Middle East,” he said without naming the country.
In a related development, he said police nabbed two men on their wanted list, Md Saifuddin Muji, 28, and Jasanizam Rosni, 33, for suspected involvement in the hand grenade explosion at an entertainment centre in Puchong on June 28.
The two men were intercepted on Aug 9 in a hut in Kuala Krai, Kelantan.
“Since early July, these two men had been waiting for Muhammad Wanndy’s orders to launch an attack on the entertainment centre in Johor Bahru.
“Police seized an M67 hand grenade meant for the attack,” he said.
Khalid said police had also detained two men in Batu Pahat, Johor and Kuala Krai, Kelantan, respectively, for harbouring Jasanizam and Md Saifuddin. -BERNAMA