SYDNEY, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The teen gunman who murdered police accountant Curtis Cheng in an act of terror in early October communicated openly with Islamic State (IS) recruiters who are linked to other Australian terror plots.
Farhad Jabar, 15, was in open contact with Australia's top Islamic State recruiter Neil Prakash who was been placed on a U.S. terrorist hit list and his Syrian counterpart British fighter Raphael Hostey as well as another Australian now fighting in Syria in the months leading up to his terror attack, The Australian newspaper reported on Wednesday.
Despite the communication, it is understood they had no involvement on the attack against Cheng.
Jabar is believed to have been radicalized in a relatively short time by a group of men who had been subjects of previous anti-terror raids in Western Sydney, using a "clean skin" because they thought they were under surveillance from the authorities.
New South Wales (NSW) police have previously conceded Jabar was not on their radar, defending their actions by saying they weren' t able to monitor potential threats "every second of the day".
However, according to News Corp on Wednesday, it is clear Jabar had been openly exposed to extremists.
NSW Premier Mike Baird and NSW Police Deputy Commissioner of Special Operations Catherine Burn have not responded to Xinhua's request for comments.
Jabar, Iranian born of Iraqi-Kurd decent executed Cutis Cheng, 17-year veteran of the NSW Police's finance unit, out the front of the Parramatta police station in the west of Sydney in early October.
Jabar was subsequently shot dead in a shoot-out with police special constables who were protecting the building.
Cheng, of Hong Kong-Chinese background, has been described as a much loved man of the NSW police force and was admired and respected by his colleagues.
On Monday, the Australian Federal Police successfully applied for an extension of an order to detain an 18-year-old man arrested in anti-terror raids last week in connection with the act of terror.
The Australian government is currently investigating changes to counter-terrorism legislation that will potentially give the authorities the power to detain suspects for up to 28 days without charge and for the minimum age of control orders to be reduced to 14.
