KUALA LUMPUR, June 20 — A northern African suspect believed to have links to the Islamic State (IS) militant group was detained here and deported back to his home country, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) said today.
In a statement, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the 31-year-old was on the wanted list back in his home country and was picked up by the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism on June 9 here.
“On June 9, Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism launched an operation around KL and this led to the arrest of a foreigner with links to IS,” Khalid said.
“The suspect was arrested under Section 15(1) of Immigration Act for an invalid visa. The suspect was sent back to his home country on June 17, 2015, at 8am through Kuala Lumpur International Airport.”
IGP further explained that the suspect entered Malaysia in March 2014 via a forged student visa that he obtained with the help of a local syndicate and claimed to be studying at a university in the Klang Valley.
He added that the police will attempt to trace down members of the syndicate to prevent other militants from using Malaysia as their base.
In the statement, Khalid also explained that the suspect was involved in terror activities in his home country before he was arrested in 2007. He subsequently fled to Syria to join the IS in 2013.
In April, it was reported that there were an estimated 63 Malaysians in Syria fighting with the IS and some have made direct threats to launch attacks back home.
As many as 240 Malaysians have also been identified and arrested from 2001 to 2009 for links to Jemaah Islamiyah, a militant group with an extensive network in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Southern Philippines that has professed support for the IS.
Concerns are high that the muted response from Malaysia’s Islamic agencies in dealing with IS propaganda, mostly spread through the internet, has helped an extremist interpretation of Islam to flourish.
