KUALA LUMPUR: Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) co-founder Abu Bakar Bashir insisted that he had no involvement with the Ulu Tiram attack, where two police officers were killed and another injured before the 21-year-old suspect was shot dead.
In a video sent to Malaysiakini by his son, Abu Bakar said he was shocked when he got to know about the incident.
He also condemned the attack on the police station as contrary to Islamic principles.
"I am in no way involved in the incident and I have no ties to it. Whoever accuses me, tries to connect me with such acts, they are lying and I ask them to prove it in front of Allah.
"I strongly condemn the act of a youth who killed two police officers in Malaysia. Killing is not a part of Islamic teachings.
"In Islam, when a situation arises, it is enough to defend the religion through dakwah and prayers, not killings or bombings.
"(And) my advice to Muslim youths, don't follow hardline ways, to easily label others as infidels without any reasons based on the Quran.
"The violence that happened in Malaysia strictly goes against Islam," he said as quoted by the portal.
In the attack that occurred at 2.54am last Friday, two policemen — Constable Ahmad Azza Fahmi Azhar, 22, and Constable Muhamad Syafiq Ahmad Said, 24 — were killed.
Another policeman, Corporal Mohd Hasif Roslan, was critically injured.
The 21-year-old attacker, who was identified as Radin Romyullah Radin Imran, was later shot dead.
Initial reports said the attack was suspected to be carried out by JI due to the suspect's father's association with the terror group, before the authorities clarified that it was a "lone wolf" attack.
JI is a militant Islamist group founded in 1993 by Indonesians Abu Bakar and Abdullah Sungkar.
The group has historical ties to al-Qaeda and has been involved in various high-profile terrorist attacks, most notably the 2002 Bali bombings which killed 202 people.
Abu Bakar was jailed in Indonesia in 2011 after his arrest in 2010, but freed in January 2021 after serving 11 years of his 15-year sentence.
In Malaysia, JI's presence has been significant, particularly as it served as a safe haven and operational base for its leaders during the 1980s and 1990s.