Kuala Lumpur : The 17 terrorists detained by police on Sunday were planning to set up an Islamic State (IS)-like regime in Malaysia, a senior police official said on Tuesday.
Inspector-General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said that to achieve their goal, the terrorists had planned to kidnap VIPs and raid banks to fund their activities, The Malaysian Star reported.
“We received information that they were also planning to raid several army camps and police stations to boost their weapons cache.”
“The locations identified as the cell’s terror targets were in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya,” he said.
Khalid added that among the 17 detainees, there were two armed forces personnel and an Indonesian militant, believed to be a former member of the Jemaah Islamiyah terror group.
“Those detained are aged between 14 and 49,” he added.
The latest arrests bring to 92 the number of those detained in Malaysia for suspected IS links since February 2012.