KUALA LUMPUR, March 24 — Seven individuals have been arrested for terrorism offences, including a suspected plan to attack non-Muslim places of worship.
The police said in a statement that an operation in Johor led to the capture of six Islamic State-linked individuals who had planned attacks on non-Muslim places of worship, kidnappings and the murder of police officers.
“The third suspect aged 30 was working as a security guard, whose job was to handle the purchase of firearms from a neighbouring country. The suspect had done a recce on non-Muslim places of worship around Johor Baru, Johor, as targets,” Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Mohamad Fuzi Harun said in a statement.
The arrests were carried out between February 27 to March 15.
During the first operation on February 27, three suspects between the ages of 30 and 46 were caught.
The second arrest took place between February 28 and March 1, where three more suspects were arrested.
They were arrested for attempting to purchase weapons, execute attacks, kidnap, and murder.
A third operation was carried out on March 15 in Sabah, where a Filipino Abu Sayyaf member was arrested.
The 31-year-old acted as the right hand man of the Abu Sayyaf group leader in Basilan, North Philippines, Furuji Indama.
He also had links with Malaysia’s Dr Mahmud Ahmad, who had previously joined the group.
The suspect was sought after by Filipino authorities for his alleged links to several kidnapping, ransom, and attempted murder cases.
He was also an ‘Improvised Explosive Device’ expert.
