On Sunday, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein revealed that the IS was targeting Malaysian leaders including himself for its attacks. ― File pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 — Members of the Malaysian cell of Islamic State (IS) had planned to kidnap the country’s leaders to use as bargaining chips to secure the release of their captured comrades, the head of the police’s counter-terrorism unit said.

According to Counter-terrorism Division chief Datuk Ayob Khan Mydin, two men detained for suspected involvement in IS activities revealed a complex scheme to abduct the unnamed leaders by luring them to secluded locales in the Klang Valley.

“The IS was only out to secure the freedom of their fellow militants in Sungai Buloh Prison. It was not about making any ransom demand,” Ayob was quoted as saying by The Star on its website today.

The terrorist group had also hoped to tout a successful prisoner swap as a sign of the IS’s growing abilities and reach, for use in the continued recruitment of locals in its jihadist war in the Middle East and elsewhere.

On Sunday, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein revealed that the IS was targeting Malaysian leaders including himself for its attacks.

Hishammuddin told reporters yesterday that he made the announcement in order to press home the urgency with which Malaysian authorities must address the threat, following the deadly attacks in Paris last week.

Over 100 people were killed and more than 200 injured during attacks by IS terrorists on restaurants, a concert hall and a sports stadium in Paris last Friday.

Yesterday, the police said they have arrested another three suspected IS militants here, along with another two thought to be members of the Imam Mahdi terrorist group.

Authorities have increasingly reported arrests for suspected terrorist involvement here.

Last month, eight Malaysian men believed linked to the IS were nabbed in a major police sting operation across three states.

In July, two Malaysians believed linked to IS were arrested over alleged plots to attack several key areas, including entertainment spots in the Klang Valley.

In April, police picked up 12 suspected militants while they were planning to test explosives in a Hulu Langat jungle and seized bomb-making materials during the arrest.

Later the same month, police said they nabbed 17 individuals during a secret meeting to plot the kidnap of high profile-figures, to attack places in Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and the Klang Valley.

In August last year, Ayob confirmed that local IS followers nabbed had admitted to plotting attacks on a disco, pubs in Kuala Lumpur and Danish beer-maker Carlsberg’s factory in Petaling Jaya.

To date, more than a hundred individuals suspected of militant activities have been nabbed by local police.