Khalid Abu Bakar
KUALA LUMPUR: Nine men, including a primary school teacher, who are believed to be involved in the Daesh militant movement were held in several locations in the country between March 15 and last Tuesday. Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said all of them, who were Malaysian nationals aged between 26 and 46, were detained in Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Kelantan and Johor.
The first suspect, who was detained on March 15, is a Puspakom technician aged 27, in Klang.
“The suspect is one of the cell members of the Black Hawk Telegram group (cell of the Daesh terrorist group involved in the incident on the bombing at the Movida Club, Puchong).
“The suspect admitted to being involved in the channelling of funds to Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi for use by the Daesh in Syria,” he said in a statement here.
Khalid said that following the operation, police detained two men aged 37 and 39 on March 16 in Kulim, Kedah and in Ipoh, Perak.
He said that one of them was a primary school teacher while the other worked as a security guard.
“The suspect who works as a teacher admitted to spreading the ‘salafi jihadi’ ideology of the Daesh group via Facebook to recruit people to join the Daesh movement,” he said.
The IGP also said the outcome of investigation revealed the suspect who worked as a security guard was believed to have planned to sneak out of Malaysia to enable him to join the Daesh militant group in Syria or in Southern Philippines.
Meanwhile, two other suspects were detained on March 17 in Perak aged 31 and 28 who worked as a restaurant assistant while the other owned a veterinary shop.
“The suspect who works as a restaurant assistant had planned to launch an attack on a police station in Tapah, Perak and had reached Daesh members in Indonesia to obtain explosives to be used in the attack.
“The suspect also had ties with former Daesh members in Poso, Indonesia and had been actively recruiting Malaysians,” he said.
Khalid said subsequently a 32-year-old mechanic in Kuala Krai, Kelantan was arrested on March 20.
“The suspect was believed to have funded the Daesh group in Syria and had ties with a Malaysian member of Daesh, who is now in Syria,” he said.
According to the IGP, the last arrest was on March 21 involving three men, in Kota Bharu, Kelantan; and Segamat and Kota Tinggi, Johor respectively.
Khalid said the 46-year-old suspect in Kelantan was believed to have been involved in recruiting Daesh members.
The 20-year-old suspect who was arrested in Segamat worked at a cyber cafe while the third suspect, also 20, who was arrested in Kota Tinggi worked at a resort, he said.
“The second and third individuals were suspected to have involved in the Daesh militant group’s activities in Malaysia,” Khalid said.
Khalid said all the suspects were detained on suspicion of committing crimes under Chapter VIA of the Penal Code (Act 574) and would be investigated under the Security Offences Act (Special Measures) 2012 (Act 747). – Bernama