Teen bomb-maker wanted to 'punish unIslamic Malaysia'

Muzliza Mustafa Muzliza Mustafa Updated 6 years ago · Published on 18 Oct 2017 7:00AM · 3 Comments

Police Special Action Unit commandos during a demonstration last year. Police arrested a teenaged bomb-maker in Kelantan last week, and a source says he was self radicalised. – The Malaysian Insight file pic, October 18, 2017.

THE teenage bombmaker nabbed by the authorities in Kelantan last week was not influenced by any terrorist organisation and was self-radicalised, making him even more dangerous, said sources.

Initial investigations revealed that the 19-year-old had no “idols” and did not have contact with any Malaysian or foreign Islamic State militant.

“He was motivated by incidents affecting Muslims, and decided that Malaysia had strayed from its role as a true Islamic nation,” a source said.

“He wanted to teach Malaysia a lesson and this drove him to learn how to make bombs.”

The teenager and two accomplices – a former soldier and a construction worker – had planned to blow up the Better Beer Festival in Kuala Lumpur, non-Muslim places of worship and KLCC, where liquor is sold openly.

They were nabbed in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan, on Wednesday where earlier on the same day they had tested two improvised explosive devices (IED). 

One exploded successfully while the other malfunctioned.

Inspector-General of Police Mohamad Fuzi Harun yesterday said the teenager’s IEDs could kill those within a 20-30m radius.

Sources said the teenager, who was a Form Six student in Pasir Puteh slated to sit for his STPM on November 6, was the mastermind of the terrorist ring.

The teenager is the youngest of nine children from a middle-class family.

His father is a muezzin at the local surau, while his mother is a housewife.

“He is smart. He knew what to look for (bombmaking tutorials),” said the source.

“He is so smart that he was able to build an IED from scratch. He is meticulous. The way the device was built showed he knew the mechanics of the device well.”

The teen also spent time compiling notes and drawings of what he had learnt.

Police also seized several IEDs, PVC pipes, a glue gun, firecrackers and several mobile phones.

It is understood that the teen used carbide powder for the explosive and ball bearings to serve as shrapnel in the device.

The teenager’s ability to understand the intricate details and the mechanical works in building the explosives reminded investigators of dead bomb expert Dr Azahari Husin who masterminded the 2002 Bali bombing.

Azahari, a former University Teknologi Malaysian lecturer, was killed in 2005 during a police raid at his hideout in Kota Batu, Indonesia.

“It is a great concern. Looking at how detailed his drawings and his IEDs were, it reminded us of Dr Azahari,” said the source. – October 18, 2017.

Sign up or sign in here to comment.

Comments

  • No one is ever born a racist, bigot or terrorist. Not recognizing the insidious role played by family members, school teachers and politicians in influencing a young mind is as good as ignoring the problem.

    Posted 6 years ago by Xuz ZG · Reply

  • Check how many friends he has are girls and how girls treated him. Check his grades. Who want to bet it's all bad?

    Posted 6 years ago by Bigjoe Lam · Reply

  • When we have shits stirrer and radical religious extremes protesting and vehemently denying the way of life for the others in a multi racial country is a concoction for disaster. Coupled to the silence from the Government is a portryal in condoning the germination of radical ideology for lone wolf to strike. We need not have even ISIS or Al Queda fully inside the country to shore up such manifestations of violence. As indicated he needs no prodding as the motivation is from the free act in the pursuing a religious climax expounded by PAS and the Muslim extremist in pursuing their euphoria of establishing the Islampolitan area. This is no more a silent lucubration of the act but a blatant devious attempt of making a statement. We have created a monster from being silent. "Houston we have a problem"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Posted 6 years ago by Lee Lee · Reply