Police foil Merdeka eve attack, detain 3 Daish suspects

Police arrested three suspects believed to be involved with the Daish militant group in planning to launch attacks on the eve of Merdeka eve celebrations.

Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the arrest was carried out in an operation conducted by the Special Branch Counter Terrorism from August 27 to 29 in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Pahang.

He said, the three suspects are Malaysia citizens who are members of the same cell.

"They received instructions from Mohamad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi to launch an attack on an entertainment centre in Kuala Lumpur, a Hindu temple in Batu Caves, Selangor, as well as a police station or any police officer using a grenade or firearms on the eve of Merdeka 2016," he said in a statement today.

According to Khalid, the suspects, aged between 20 and 27 years old, worked as a truck driver, butcher and drinks seller respectively.

Also seized were a K75 grenade, CZ 2075 Rami 2 pistol and 24 rounds of 9mm bullet.

All of the materials were provided to the suspect by Mohamad Wanndy’s middleman (a courier).

"The three suspects were planning to leave for Syria to join the ISIS terrorist group (Daish) with the help of Mohamad Wanndy after successfully launching the attacks," he said.

All the suspects were arrested on suspicion of committing offenses related to terrorism, under the Penal Code (Act 574), and will be investigated in accordance with the procedure under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Act 747) .