Bangladeshi among five held for IS links

A Bangladeshi man among five have been detained by police for investigations into links with terrorist groups including Islamic State, reports freemalaysiatoday

The five men, aged between 25 and 59, were arrested in raids conducted here and in Selangor, Kelantan and Johor since Nov 17.

The European man was arrested in Kuala Lumpur and had been a part-time English teacher in Penang. He had joined Al-Qaeda previously and was involved in terrorist activities in Afghanistan and Bosnia, Khalid said.

An Indonesian man, aged 31, was identified as the cell’s leader.

The Inspector-General of Police, Khalid Abu Bakar, said the cell leader is believed to have performed an oath of allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi in mid-2014.

The Malaysian and a Bangladeshi in the group also have links with IS, a police statement said.

The cell leader and the Malaysian had recruited new members from Malaysia and other South-East Asian countries, arranging for their travel to Syria. The Bangladeshi man was also planning to travel to Syria, Khalid said.

The African man was registered as a student at a private college in Petaling Jaya.