2 Bangladeshis arrested in Malaysia for alleged IS links

Two Bangladeshis have been held in Malaysia for their suspected links to Islamic State (IS).

Malaysian Special Branch's Counter-Terrorism Division arrested four people, including the two Bangladeshis, in separate raids between January 13 and 19 in Kuala Lumpur and Sabah, New Straits Times, a local English daily, reported yesterday.

The suspects included a 31-year-old Filipino man and a 27-year-old Malaysian woman.

The Bangladeshis, aged 27 and 28, worked as salesmen, and were arrested last Thursday in Kuala Lumpur. They were suspected of having ties to suspected IS militants in Bangladesh and planning to join Dr Mahmud's terror cell, according to the report.

Dr Mahmud was a former lecturer at University Malaya who had joined IS militants based in the southern Philippines.

Malaysian Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the arrests meant that police had effectively destroyed a new IS cell which had planned to turn Sabah into a transit station for Southeast Asia and South Asia terrorists to join a Philippines-based IS group led by Dr Mahmud Ahmad and Isnilon Hapilon.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the cell, led by Dr Mahmud, had combined with an Abu Sayyaf group headed by Isnilon, which had pledged allegiance to IS leader Abu Bakar Al Baghdadi,” he said in a statement.

Malaysia is a major destination for the Bangladeshi jobseekers. Around four lakh Bangladeshis are now working in the country.