Two Malaysian law enforcement officers were killed following an attack on a police station in Johor state, triggering a roundup of members of a militant organisation that the attacker had ties with, according to the country’s police chief.
A man found to be linked to Indonesia-based militant group Jemaah Islamiyah attacked officers on Friday at a police station in Ulu Tiram, in the southern Malaysian state that borders Singapore, Inspector-General of Police Razarudin Husain said. After leaving two officers dead and injuring another, the attacker was shot dead by the police, he said.
It happened around 2.30am on Friday and early investigations showed that the attacker had “prepared” for the attack, Razarudin said at a briefing outside the police station, which was broadcast on the force’s official Facebook page.
Police have arrested five members of the attacker’s family after finding evidence of links to Jemaah Islamiyah, which was responsible for the deadly 2002 nightclub bombings on the Indonesian island resort of Bali. They are also questioning more than 20 other members of the group in Johor, and are rounding up all those in the state suspected to have ties to the organization, Razarudin said.
Two varsity students who arrived at the station shortly before the violence to lodge a police report on a two-year-old incident have also been detained on suspicion of being part of the planned attack, according to Razarudin.
“They came to lodge a police report at 2am over something that happened two years ago,” he said. “For us, it is not logical.”
The attacker had entered the station compound in a car, before killing a police officer with a machete when approached. He subsequently stole his gun and shot dead another officer before being killed.
Authorities will increase security at all police stations in Johor and alert the palace and chief minister of the state, Razarudin said.
The Johor monarch, Sultan Ibrahim Iskandar, is currently serving as Malaysia’s king under its unique rotating monarchy system.