POLICE are now equipped with radioactivity-detecting devices as they continued cracking down on foreign terrorist cells in the run up to the Sea Games, reported The Star.

Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division head Deputy Commissioner Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the devices would aid the force in its anti-terrorism operations.

“Before this, we wouldn’t know if we had entered premises that had radioactive material, but with these devices, my men will not be exposed (to such material).”

Ayob said the devices came in different sizes and had varying levels of sensitivity.

“The smallest is the size of a pager. Then, there is a slightly bigger device, followed by the largest, which can be carried as a backpack.”

Atomic Energy Licensing Board director-general Hamrah Mohd Ali said the devices could detect gamma and neutron rays.

Hamrah, whose agency supplies the items to police, said the devices, called the RadEye, would be used during the Sea Games, which kicks off on August 19, to detect possible radioactive elements.

Police have been given eight backpack-sized devices, and eight handheld and 95 pager-sized ones.

They have begun carrying out raids in areas with a high concentration of Middle Eastern migrants.

Ayob said during one such operation yesterday, many foreigners, both with and without proper documents, were rounded up.

“We will bring them to the Sepang police headquarters, and check them against our and Interpol’s foreign terrorist fighters databases.

“We have to take proactive measures as these people are from high-risk countries in the Middle East, like Syria and Yemen.” – August 10, 2017.