KUALA LUMPUR: Police have arrested a 28-year-old insurance agent who planned to carry out a lone wolf suicide bomb attack in Malaysia, in the wake of the terrorist attack by Islamic State (IS) militants in Jakarta on Thursday.
Officers from the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division nabbed the man on Friday.
The man, from Terengganu, already had a specific target for the explosion.
“The suspect, who had been putting up IS flags in Terengganu, Perak, Selangor and Johor, received orders from an IS leader in Syria to target Malaysia,” Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar (pic) said yesterday.
The flags were meant to warn the authorities to stop operations against IS members.
A source said the suspect had planned to attack a strategic location in the city.
“His likely target could have been an entertainment outlet or even a Government building but he was arrested before he could execute his plan,” said the source, adding that the man was armed with a knife and had IS-related documents when he was nabbed.
In a related case, three Malaysian suspects – who were caught trying to sneak into Syria in Gaziantep, Turkey, on Nov 15 – have been handed over to Malaysian police.
Khalid said Malaysian militant Muhammad Wanndy Mohamed Jedi, who is also known as Abu Hamzah, had recruited the trio.
“We believe he had recruited them through Facebook and other social media and had also arranged for their passage into Syria,” he said.
All four suspects have been detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma).
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