A Bangladeshi man, who was arrested by the Malaysian police for terror links reportedly met a suspect involved in the Dhaka café attack that killed 22 people two months ago.
Reports said the 37-year-old businessman met Andaleeb Ahmed, the terrorist who was involved in the attack on Holey Artisan Bakery Cafe in July, at his own restaurant in Bukit Bintang. Andaleeb was linked to Monash University in Malaysia.
"The authorities believe that the suspect was planning attacks in his home country. He even had regular meetings with many of his countrymen," a source told The Straits Times.
According to the source, the suspect was also responsible for smuggling AK-47 rifles into Bangladesh.
Khalid Abu Bakar, the Inspector-General of Police, said the businessman was among four men who were arrested by the Bukit Aman Special Branch Counter Terrorism Division for suspected links to terrorism between Aug 2 and Sept 17.
"The (Bangladeshi) suspect was arrested on Aug 19. He was placed in Interpol's Red Notice and was deported on Sept 2," Khalid said.
Along with the Bangladeshi suspect, the three other detainees included a 38-year-old Nepalese businessman, a 26-year-old Moroccan man and a 34-year-old Malaysian man.
"The Nepalese was arrested on Aug 19 and deported on Sept 2. We discovered that he ran entertainment outlets and a hotel," the police chief said.
"We believe he was responsible for falsifying documents to facilitate the travel of terrorists," he added.
Those false documents were used by members of international terror groups. The suspect apparently charged between RM 250 and RM 1,300 (S$82 - S$428) for his services in arranging the travels of Nepalese citizens to return to their home country.
The third suspect is a Moroccan welder, who was earlier detained by the Turkish government for his attempt to smuggle into Syria. The police suspect the Moroccan man to be a member of the Islamic State.
"After his release, he managed to find his way into Malaysia in May," Khalid added.
Regarding the fourth suspect, the IGP said that he was a Malaysian man. He worked as a driver for a businessman and had links with militant Mohamad Wanndy Mohamad Jedi.
"We believe he has been promoting IS propaganda and ideologies through his Facebook account," he said, referring to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
Since February 2013, a total of about 240 militants has been arrested by the Malaysian authorities.
