KUALA LUMPUR, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- Malaysian police said on Tuesday that they had arrested three suspects who were planning to launch a bomb attack during an annual beer festival in the capital city Kuala Lumpur.
The three suspects, including a 19-year-old student, were planning to use self-made improvised explosive device (IED) to carry out the attack, said Malaysian police chief Mohamad Fuzi Harun at a press conference.
The student was the main plotter of the attack, while another two, a former soldier and a construction contractor, were responsible to raise funds for the operation, said the police chief, adding they were believed to have tested the IED in an open space on Sept. 28.
He said the police also seized materials used to make IEDs, including PVC pipes, batteries, firecrackers, fire spots, wires, two mobile phones besides a notebook and a piece of IED photo paper that is believed to be used as a formula.
The Better Beer Festival was planned to be held on Oct. 6 and 7 but was later cancelled due to "security concerns" and objections from an Islamic party.
Fuzi said that since January a total of 78 individuals have been detained in the country for suspected involvement in terrorist activities.
He added that 53 Malaysian nationals are believed to have joined the IS in Syria while another five joined related terror groups in southern Philippines.
