Singapore customs authorities arrested eight Indonesian men for carrying Islamic State material like controversial images. The men, some of them students, were nabbed by officers when they tried to enter the country through the Woodlands Checkpoint on Wednesday. One of the men had apparently joined a Whatsapp group run by Isis fellow-travellers.
According to Bernama, the incident happened at around 1.30 am on Wednesday when officers found an image of a homemade bomb which used a shoe in one of the student's mobile phone.
Investigations revealed that the group had travelled to Thailand on project under the Islamic Education Board in Phatani. The men laer travlled to Malaysia, from where they were trying to enter Singapore.
Though Malaysian authorities said the men were not members of any Isis cell, it's unclear why they carried images of the violent representations of the hardline Sunni militancy, such as the dreaded Isis flag and home made bombs.
Singapore police then handed over the men to Malaysia for further investigation, which in turn deported them to Batam after a finding out that the images were obtained from a Whatsapp group.
It was also reported that Indonesian police are undertaking the follow-up investigation and the boys have been detained for questioning. The eight men were in the 16 to 37 years age group, with most of them in their 20s, the Jakarta Post report reported.
