SHAH ALAM, April 28 — Police have stepped up security at government buildings following the raid on a group of 12 Islamic State (IS) militant suspects.
Police said they unearthed plans to attack several government buildings in the Klang Valley with the arrests.
Special Branch and Counter-Terrorism Division principal assistant director SAC Datuk Ayub Khan Mydin Pitchay said government buildings and police stations were now under close watch.
“We also found out that none of those arrested had gone to Iraq, but we are still investigating,” he said.
Ayub could not disclose the specific locations targeted, but said that vice hotspots were included apart from government offices.
He said none of those arrested were government officials.
“The IS threat is not only in Malaysia, it is all over the world, but people should not worry,” he said, trying to downplay public unease.
Ayub urged religious authorities to work with the police.
“Not all religious departments would alert us (police). I cannot force them but I have shared my opinion many times,” he said.
Over the weekend, police arrested 12 people, including a 17-year-old boy, who were on their way up to Gunung Nuang, supposedly to test homemade bombs that would be used in car bombs or suicide attacks.
Police believe the mastermind was among those arrested during the two-day operation in several parts of Hulu Langat in Selangor, Cheras and Kuala Lumpur.
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said police seized bomb-making materials, including 20kg of ammonium nitrate and 20kg of potassium nitrate — key ingredients to make explosives.
Other items confiscated were two litres of kerosene, two remote controls, a motor alarm, different types of wires, four 9-volt batteries, a digital scale, two measuring devices, three PVC pipes, an IS flag and other tools to make explosives.
Khalid said the men were acting in retaliation against the police clampdown on IS and they would be investigated under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma).
Since February last year, the division has arrested 107 suspected Malaysian militants.
