Police deny advising public against clubbing

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PETALING JAYA: Police have denied urging the public not to go clubbing as eight grenades are said to be in the possession of Islamic State (IS) terrorists locally.

Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division Head SAC Ayob Khan said police only advised people to remain cautious and they did not want to disrupt the lives or routines of the public.

He told Star Online that he was misquoted by a news portal that claimed he had urged people not to go clubbing.

Ayob had said police had discovered two grenades so far but eight grenades were unaccounted for.

One of the grenades was used in the June 28 attack at the Movida nightclub in Puchong, Selangor. Another was seized in Rengit, Johor.

Police are redoubling efforts to recover the rest of the grenades, believed to be made in 1967 and smuggled in from a neighbouring country.

Three of the nine IS militants detained – including two involved in the Movida attack – were believed to be taking orders from Syria-based Malaysian terrorist Mohamad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi.

Wanndy was a high school dropout and came from a broken family. He left for Syria in 2013 and is believed to have created multiple cells across Malaysia.

Wandy was forcing members to collect donations to buy more firearms.

These cells, with 10 to 20 members each, operate independently of each other to avoid detection, Ayob told Channel NewsAsia.

He said the terror suspects in the country may possibly plot attacks on army and police headquarters, entertainment centres and government offices.

Ayob told the news portal there were other Malaysians in Syria, who are ordering their sympathisers to conduct lone wolf attacks.

Authorities have arrested a 17-year-old in Sandakan, Sabah, who they say received instructions to get a knife and go out to kill a non-Muslim.

“It’s not the first time. We arrested two before this. One was a 16-year-old boy we arrested in Sungai Petani who was going to slaughter a Chinese lady, the other a 17-year-old boy. He was a cell leader planning to carry out a bomb attack in the Klang Valley.”

Since 2013, Malaysia has arrested nearly 240 terror suspects. The portal said the authorities believe more than 110 Malaysians have left for Syria since 2013 to join IS and 21 were confirmed to have been killed there. Eight have returned and are undergoing rehabilitation.