According to an NST report, pictures published on Dailymail.co.uk on Jan 19 showed Malaysian and Indonesian currency in the apartment where Islamic State terrorist Abdulkadir Masharipov stayed in Istanbul.
Masharipov, an Uzbekistan national, has admitted to killing 39 people in Reina nightclub in Istanbul. He was arrested by Turkish police on Monday.
According to the NST report, government sources said Malaysian authorities were working with their Turkish counterparts to retrace Masharipov’s movements.
“The authorities have seen the reports and are gathering details. We will gather more information from our Turkish counterparts to see whether he and any of his accomplices had visited Malaysia or whether they have contact with anyone here,” the source told NST.
The source added that it wouldn’t be surprising if the terrorists had connections with people in Malaysia, adding that there were many Uzbek nationals in the country.
The paper also added that although authorities had red flag indicators for suspected terrorists, it wouldn’t be able to flag a person who wasn’t in the system and that this was the case in Turkey, where the authorities were not aware Masharipov was a terrorist.
The source said Malaysian authorities had their own intelligence team with a “significant” number of officials at hotspots such as airports to look out for those who are red-flagged.
According to the Daily Mail, Masharipov was trained by the Islamic State in Afghanistan. Turkish authorities also arrested three women from Somalia, Senegal and Egypt in Masharipov’s apartment.
Turkish newspaper Hurriyet Daily News reported that the three women were a “prize” for Masharipov from the Islamic State as a reward for his attack on the nightclub.
If it does turn out that Masharipov had links to Malaysia, it would not be the first time a suspected terrorist passed this way.
Last July, at least two attackers involved in the siege of a café in Dhaka, Bangladesh, were found to have studied in Malaysia.
The two, Nibras Islam and Rohan Imtiaz, came from well off families and reputed schools.
The 12-hour siege, saw five militants including Nibras and Rohan kill 20 hostages, 17 of them foreigners, and two police officers.