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Not long after coming to Singapore in 2017 to work in construction, Ahmed Faysal turned his head.
The following year, the Bangladeshi had become radicalized after absorbing online propaganda about the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, so much so that he wanted to go to Syria to fight the terror group.
He donated money to fund the fight of another militant group in Syria, actively shared jihadist propaganda using social media accounts he created under false names, and watched firearm-related videos online.
He even bought folding knives here with the aim of killing Hindu policemen in his country.
But Faysal, 26, had drawn the attention of local security agencies that had been on high alert since early September after a series of terrorist attacks sparked by the reissue of cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad by the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. .
Faysal, one of 37 people investigated by the Department of Homeland Security in recent weeks, was arrested under the Homeland Security Act on November 2.
Of the 37 people, 23 are foreigners, of which 16, all Bangladeshi except one Malaysian, have been repatriated. The Malay had intended to travel to Syria or Palestine to engage in armed violence, the Interior Ministry (MHA) said yesterday.
The 15 Bangladeshis, most of whom worked in construction, posted on social media that incited violence or fueled communal unrest in response to recent attacks in France.
The remaining seven foreigners are still under investigation.
MHA said that Faysal was not linked to the incidents in France and has shown no indication that he intended to carry out acts of violence in Singapore.
But Home Affairs and Law Minister K. Shanmugam told reporters yesterday on the sidelines of a seminar that it was not difficult to imagine him doing it.
He said: “If you find that you cannot return to Bangladesh immediately, could you have decided one day to just attack people in Singapore? It is very easy to change.
“His propaganda, his call for others to attack people of other faiths, that could have influenced other people as well. These things have no limits. That is why we have stopped him.”
But Mr Shanmugam cautioned against exaggerated concerns about migrant workers here fighting violence abroad.
He said: “I think we lose the war if we go around thinking … every migrant worker should be viewed with suspicion.
“That is not the case. The number that crosses the line is the smallest fraction.” -KOK YUFENG
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