Instincts helped ICA officer stop two IS supporters from entering Singapore
TODAY file photo
SINGAPORE — It was her gut feeling, honed by years of experience and training, that helped an Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) officer intercept two Islamic State (IS) supporters when they arrived at the Singapore Cruise Centre in HarbourFront from Batam.
The two Indonesians had been planning to travel to Iraq.
And after assessing them, Ms Fadhillah (whose full name cannot be revealed for operational reasons), 31, was convinced that she could get the younger of the two men, the more nervous one, to talk.
Indeed, after a 45-minute interrogation, the man told her in Bahasa Indonesia: "I need a favour from you. Can you promise me that nothing will happen to me? I am here to fight for Islam. I am a member of the Islamic State."
Recounting the Nov 6, 2015, incident to reporters, Ms Fadhillah, who has been with the ICA for 12 years, said: "I do many interviews in a day, but this was the first time he (the older man) looked at me (in the eye), and I felt that this guy was off."
She spoke to the media on the sidelines of a Home Team Academy workplan seminar media briefing. The need for quality training for Home Team officers - in order to develop reflexes and instincts - was highlighted by Home Affairs and Law Minister K Shanmugam during the seminar on Tuesday (June 13).
Ms Fadhillah said the older man "was surprisingly calm" and was "expecting me to ask questions". "That was a big trigger for me," she added.
Having been trained in interview techniques, the ICA officer knows that some interviewees might have already prepared their answers in anticipation of her questions that are meant to throw them off guard.
Compared to the younger man, whom she had interviewed first and had found to be displaying the "textbook signs of a liar" by being inconsistent in his responses, Ms Fadhillah said she felt the older man "was obviously prepared for something", even though he was giving reasonable answers to her questions.
Sensing that there was something sinister about the older man's nonchalant disposition, the officer decided to talk to his younger companion again to question him further. During the second interview, the younger man said: "I am done. I am going to tell you what you want to know."
Ms Fadhillah said: "Okay. Tell me more."
After the younger man confessed about their travel plans to Iraq, Ms Fadhillah did the necessary checks and informed her supervisor. The two men were denied entry into Singapore as they posed a serious security threat. They were sent back to Batam, where they were detained by officers from Indonesia's special counter-terrorism unit, Detachment 88.
