Teacher, CEO among five nabbed in latest LTTE-linked operation
A teacher, a state government-linked company’s CEO and a local councillor in Malacca were among five nabbed in the latest police operation linked with the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) yesterday.
In a press conference today, Bukit Aman Special Branch's Counter-Terrorism Division chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the five were arrested for allegedly promoting, instigating and supporting LTTE...
A teacher, a state government-linked company’s CEO and a local councillor in Malacca were among five nabbed in the latest police operation linked with the terrorist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) yesterday.
In a press conference today, Bukit Aman Special Branch's Counter-Terrorism Division chief Ayob Khan Mydin Pitchay said the five were arrested for allegedly promoting, instigating and supporting LTTE.
They were arrested because they owned items related to the LTTE group and had even helped finance the activities of the international terrorist group, he said.
The 52-year-old secondary school teacher was arrested in Banting, Selangor yesterday for allegedly supporting the LTTE via social media and owned items related to LTTE.
A councillor with the Malacca Historical City Council, 43, and the CEO of Malacca Green Technology Corporation, 38, were nabbed because they were allegedly organising the Malacca LTTE Heroes Day ceremony.
They were arrested at Durian Tunggal.
A 26-year-old factory worker and a 29-year-old security supervisor were arrested in Bukit Mertajam, Penang for allegedly promoting LTTE in the social media.
It is understood that those arrested by the police so far include four DAP members, four members of the Naam Tamilar party and PAS Supporters Club (DHPP) member.
Ayob also said the police are monitoring Seeman Senthamilan, the chief coordinator of Naam Tamilar, an Indian-based party which supports LTTE.
He said the police may ban the leader from Tamil Nadu, India, from entering Malaysia.
Police are aware that Seeman often comes to Malaysia, he said.
He pledged the police will detect and arrest the remaining members of the LTTE-linked group in Malaysia soon.
Ayob, however, said all the 12 arrested were not involved directly with LTTE activities but are allegedly involved in promoting and bringing back the terrorist organisation’s ideology.
He said the police, which began their LTTE probe since last year, sensed a new wave to revive LTTE ideology by expanding branches in almost every state and helping to fund the LTTE group.
From the seven arrested on Oct 10, he said, police found transactions of a huge sum of money believed to be used in financing the LTTE movement and programmes in Malaysia.
Ayob added that the early probe found that the money could have been brought in from overseas to be used locally.
“All the arrested were connected to each other. It is not new that money is sent out to fund LTTE activities overseas”, he said.
He also cited an incident where the police detained weapons in a ship linked to LTTE in 2009 and arrested a Malaysian who allegedly attacked the Sri Lankan High Commissioner back in 2016.
He stressed that the police wanted to take action against the group before it grew stronger.
Meanwhile, Ayob also denied the police broke the door of a DAP state assemblyperson’s house as alleged by the party.
"We didn't break into (the house), we just pushed the door," he said.
He said the police only broke into the house of one of the five suspects yesterday when the latter declined to cooperate.
Ayob also explained why the police chose to inflict Sosma against the two lawmakers instead of summoning them.
He said if the Sosma was not used, the two lawmakers would give cooperation in surface only.
The police would not be able to secure their handphone and laptop and to search their house to look for evidence in the probe involving a national security issue.
He said it is alright for local Indians to sympathise with the struggles of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, but it is a crime to support the LTTE group.
"I sympathise with the Tamils too, although I am a Muslim. But that doesn't make me a supporter of LTTE. That's two different issues.
"It is like Palestine. You sympathise with the people there, but you are not going to promote Hamas here," he said.
Report this comment
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
This action cannot be undone.