Three foreigners with terrorism links arrested, deported

Three foreigners believed be involved in terrorism activities were detained by police over the last two months.

Two of them were from Russia while the other was from Sri Lanka.

In a media statement today, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the foreigners were detained in raids by the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Unit within Selangor last March 28 and April 22.

The two Russians, aged 23 and 25 years, were arrested by police on March 28 for alleged links to the Daish terrorist group. The ethnic Chechen duo had been detained by Turkish authorities last February for their apparent involvement in the terrorist group’s activities in Syria, and were expelled from Turkey before they entered Malaysia in March.

Here, the duo were arrested under Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 or SOSMA. They have since been deported on May 13 in a special operation.

In the case of the 42-year-old Sri Lankan, he was a closed-circuit television technician working in the Klang Valley who was allegedly involved in making death threats towards the Sri Lanka president and prime minister through his Facebook account.

The suspect was also listed as a wanted man by Sri Lankan authorities.

Here, he was detained under Section 6 of the Immigration Act 1959/63 and had since been deported in a special operation on April 27.

His arrest was the result of solid cooperation between the Royal Malaysian Police and Sri Lankan authorities, the statement said.

The police, with the help of the Immigration Department, would continue to monitor the entry of foreigners from high-risk countries, to ensure that no terrorist elements infiltrate into Malaysia to seek shelter or make this country a target, the statement added.