KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 25 — Seven Islamic State (IS) militants detained in a 60-hour operation from Friday were preparing to attack strategic locations here including one singled out by the Indonesian who masterminded the January 14 Jakarta bombings.

Bahrom Naim, a founding member of Khatibah Nusantara in Syria, was understood to be on the verge of activating a member of the sleeper cell to carry out a lone wolf attack.

The suspects comprised a hotel housekeeping manager, a cendol seller, laboratory assistant, security guard, GPS technician, factory store supervisor and an odd-job worker.

Bukit Aman Special Branch and Counter Terrorism division officers seized 30 bullets of different calibres, including those for the M16 assault rifle and books on jihad, IS flags and a propaganda video.

Police had previously raised concerns of sleeper cells being activated in the country following the arrest of a 28-year-old man at an LRT station in Ampang on Jan 15 who had planned an attack after receiving orders from an IS militant in Syria.

The seven were detained following interrogation of the suspect.

“A few of them were planning lone wolf attacks while the rest were planning to work together,” the source said.

It is understood another suspect was receiving instructions from militant Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, also known as Abu Hamzah, who is believed to be in Syria with another Malaysian, Mohd Faris Anuar.

They appeared in a video of an IS beheading of a Syrian on Facebook on February 22 last year.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the suspects, aged between 26 and 50, were detained in Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Kedah, Pahang and Selangor.

“They were arrested in operations between Friday and Sunday,” he said, declining to comment on the type of attack being planned.

Khalid said the Sabahan hotel assistant manager and a factory store caretaker were arrested in Johor, while the cendol seller who was responsible for collecting funds to cover the expenses of those intending to join IS was detained  in Kedah.

“The money was also for funding attacks in Malaysia. The other suspect was the cendol seller’s assistant who came from Terengganu,” he said.

The security guard, laboratory assistant and GPS technician were detained in Gombak, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang, respectively.

The suspects were detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma) 2012.

Last week, Bukit Aman increased security at tourist spots and shopping centres nationwide following the attack in the Indonesian capital.

Extra precautions were also taken at international borders to prevent terrorists from entering the country.

In Johor, Perak, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, policemen in full operational gear were spotted patrolling shopping centres, entertainment outlets and air, land and sea entry and exit points.

The suspect arrested in Ampang had also hung IS flags at several locations in Terengganu, Perak and Johor. Police found a knife and IS related documents on him.

Three other Malaysians including a married couple were detained in the same period at KL International Airpot on Monday upon their repatriation from Turkey.

They were arrested by Turkish police as they were trying to sneak into Syria on Nov 15. The suspect detained in Ampang and the three other were all recruited by Abu Hamzah.