IGP to Perlis mufti: Stay out of police business
He responds to personal request by mufti to exclude terror expert Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay from any probe related to terrorism in Perlis.
KUALA LUMPUR: The nation’s top cop has brushed off a personal request by the Perlis mufti to exclude terror expert Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay from any investigations related to terrorism in the state.
Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun also said that Mohd Asri Zainul Abidin, a well-known preacher, should stay out of police business.
“It’s not up to him to dictate how police should carry out their duties,” he told reporters after attending a function at the police training centre here.
Asri was reported to have made the request after eight suspected terrorists, linked to a religious centre advocating Salafi jihadism in Perlis, were arrested last month for disrupting public order.
The suspects included a Malaysian, an American, a Middle-Easterner as well as five Europeans, aged between 24 and 38.
They were nabbed at the centre on Sept 24 by the Bukit Aman Special Branch’s Counter-Terrorism Division in simultaneous raids in Perlis, Kuala Lumpur and Johor.
The division is headed by Ayob.
Among the suspects was the brother-in-law of a prominent terrorist linked to the Syeikh Muqbil madrasah (school) in Yemen.
Asri, according to a report by Utusan Malaysia, did not give the reason for his request.
On a related note, Fuzi said the spread of Salafi jihadism was linked to the militant network in Malaysia.
Bernama reported Fuzi as saying police will monitor all tahfiz religious schools in the country in a pro-active and preventive move to prevent the Salafi Jihadi and Daesh ideologies from spreading here.
He said so far only one tahfiz school in Perlis had been found to be involved in the ideology.
“We fear that they want to make the tahfiz school in Perlis as a stepping stone to spread their ideology in the country.”
He said the tahfiz school in Perlis was believed to have a network of militants overseas, including in Yemen.
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“We cannot reveal more information on the case as it is still under investigation while other tahfiz schools throughout the country are still under control,” he added.