MHA says two Singaporeans detained under security act, one said to be a follower of Zahran

Two Singaporeans have been detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) for intending to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State (IS) militant group, Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said yesterday in a statement.

The ministry said that the first case involved 36-year-old licensed money changer Kuthubdeen Haja Najumudeen, who had been a follower of Sri Lankan radical preacher Zahran Hashim, Channel News Asia reported

Haja was arrested in May this year. 

"Zahran has been identified by the Sri Lankan authorities as the mastermind and one of the suicide bombers involved in the terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka on 21 April 2019 which killed more than 250 people and injured 500 others," said MHA. 

Since 2011, Haja had been listening to Zahran's online lectures and regularly contacted him for religious guidance. He also made three trips to Sri Lanka between May 2015 and October 2016 to visit the preacher, and donated funds to Zahran and his group, the National Thowheed Jamaath. 

Investigations did not surface any indication that Haja was involved in or had prior knowledge of the Apr 21 attacks in Sri Lanka, the ministry added.  

Haja developed an interest in IS in 2013, when he came across news of the terrorist group online. MHA said he supported IS' so-called caliphate and its violent cause, and searched online for video clips of IS-linked atrocities and terror attacks, including videos of its beheadings and recordings of the November 2015 attacks in Paris.

"Haja harboured a desire to undertake armed jihad in Syria," said MHA. 

From 2015, he conducted extensive research online in relation to his plan to migrate to Syria to join IS, but eventually decided against travelling there for fear of being killed or injured. However, his support for IS continued.  

The second case involved Suderman Samikin, a 47-year-old former delivery assistant, who was arrested in July.