A 16-year-old boy, influenced by the ISIS propaganda on social media, held a woman at knifepoint at a supermarket in northwestern Malaysia.
The teenager, clad in an attire synonymous with the militant group, held the woman at knife-point in Sungai Petani in Kedah state of the Muslim-majority country on Monday.
The teenager was later arrested, Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said. “He is being detained under the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act (Sosma).”
“Investigations revealed that he was influenced by the IS movement through social media and wanted to prove that he was capable of such acts by threatening the woman,” he said today.
There has been a rise in the number of Malaysians getting influenced by the ISIS group.
Prime Minister Najib Razak has expressed shock over reports that two Malaysians were involved in recent suicide bombings in Iraq and Syria.
He said such an ideology neither belonged to Malaysia nor was derived from Islam.
The Government was committed to countering terrorism from all aspects both domestically and internationally, he said.