KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 — Deputy Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the police need to be equipped with “weapons” in the form of preventive legal measures such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) and Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) to address complex extremist threats.
He said the government must not underestimate security risks or the capabilities of extremist and militant groups, citing the 2002 Bali bombings as a warning against downplaying cross-border extremist networks.
“Some politicians, legal practitioners and human rights groups focus solely on one aspect of PDRM’s actions under preventive laws such as the ISA and Sosma,” he said in a Facebook post today.
“There are matters that I can share with the public — and many others that, if disclosed, would cause extreme public anxiety,” he added.
Ayob Khan said the Bali attacks on October 12, 2002, carried out by Jemaah Islamiah (JI), were Southeast Asia’s first suicide bombings, killing 202 people and injuring more than 200 others.
He said investigations showed the attacks were planned months in advance and involved operatives moving across borders, including through Thailand and Malaysia, underscoring the regional nature of extremist networks.
According to Ayob Khan, Malaysia was not merely a transit point, as JI operatives entered the country to obtain logistics, assemble explosives and coordinate funding before the attacks.
He said senior JI figures had held clandestine meetings in Bangkok in early 2002 to finalise plans for bombings in Indonesia and at the Johor–Singapore Causeway.
Ayob Khan said sustained operations by the Royal Malaysia Police Special Branch since December 2001 disrupted much of JI’s network in Malaysia and eventually foiled a planned attack at the Causeway.
He added that the Bali case illustrated how intelligence-led and preventive action was critical to stopping extremist attacks before violence occurred.
