Monday, July 07th 2014
PETALING JAYA — Police arrested four men linked to militants in Sri Lanka with one of them, who ran a language centre in the Klang Valley, allegedly involved in the attempted assassination of a former Sri Lankan president.
Sources revealed the man had entered the country with a valid work permit in 2009 and that his centre was in full operation when police arrested him on Thursday.
The attempted assassination on December 18, 1999, of former Sri Lanka president Chandirka Kumaratunga was engineered by the suspect and involved a female suicide bomber. Kumaratunga survived the blast but lost vision in her right eye.
All four suspects, aged 32 to 45, are believed to be key members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said they had not only sought refuge in the country but also made Malaysia their operation base. The other suspect was an expert bomb maker who held a UNHCR card, which is awarded to refugees.
The remaining two suspects played signifi cant roles in LTTE. One was in charge of collecting and disseminating information within LTTE’s network, while the other had planned a terror attack — which was thwarted — at a consulate office in Chennai, India, on May 14.
They were believed to have worked as security guards and operated food stalls during their stay here.
The four were rounded up by the Special Branch counter-terrorism unit in simultaneous ambushes at several locations in the Klang Valley on Thursday. The police had been tracking them down for several years.
The investigation team believes there are more members and is monitoring the group’s movement as they are believed to be using Malaysia as a hiding ground.
"They have been using our country as a shelter and operation centre. On top of this, they have been exploiting the use of fake UNHCR cards to avoid being detected by the authorities," said Khalid.
During the raid, police seized several forged passports of different countries and also a fake official stamp of Malaysia's Immigration Department.
“Police view activities by foreign terrorist elements seriously as they are trying to make Malaysia a transit, a sanctuary and their base.
“This includes those who exploit UNHCR cards to avoid being arrested,” said Khalid.
It is believed the four are linked to the 40-year-old Sri Lankan who was detained in Kepong on May 14.
The man was involved in the May 1 twin blasts at the Chennai Central Railway station and had also planned attacks on two foreign consulates in south India.
Police said the four could have been reporting to this man and had groups actively operating in several other countries which were linked to al-Qaeda.
The latest series of arrests are part of an ongoing crackdown on suspected terrorist activities in the country. Over 20 people had been detained so far, some linked to African, Middle Eastern and southern Philippines militant cells.
On Wednesday, the Special Branch revealed the identities of five men, three of whom were believed to have been recruiting young Malaysians to fight alongside rebels in Syria. The trio were identified as Universiti Malaya (UM) senior lecturer Dr Mahmud Ahmad, 36, former Selayang Municipal Council employee Muhammad Joraimee Awang Raimee, 39, and Mohd Najib Husen, 36, who ran a photocopy and stationery shop in UM.
The other two were Mohd Amin Baco, 31, and Jeknal Adil, 30, both from Tawau, Sabah
From : http://manage.mmail.com.my/story/terror-leader-ran-language-centre-klang-valley-83072
