Singapore deports four Indonesians, suspecting they were headed for Syria

Singapore has deported four Indonesians thought to be followers of a leading Islamic extremist as they allegedly tried to travel onwards to Syria, police said Tuesday.

The four, who included a 15-year-old boy, were arrested Sunday in the city-state when immigration officials became suspicious after checking their documents, and finding one of them had previously spent time in Syria.

Authorities deported them to Batam, an Indonesian island not far from Singapore, the same day, and they have since been sent on to Jakarta.

After questioning the men, Indonesian officials “suspected that these four Indonesians were heading to Syria”, said police spokesman Agus Rianto .

“We are now investigating the case to find out more.”

National police chief Badrodin Haiti said the group were thought to be followers of radical preacher Aman Abdurrahman, who is in jail for his role in forming a militant training camp, and has pledged allegiance to the Islamic State (IS) group.

There have been suspicions Abdurrahman may have helped plan last month’s gun and suicide attacks in Jakarta that left four attackers and four civilians dead.