Masyhadi Mas Selamat, 24, a Singaporean, was deported last Wednesday, 10 days after he was arrested during his wedding reception in Solo, Central Java, for violating immigration laws.

National police spokesman Ronny Sompie told reporters here Monday that Indonesian police helped nab Masyhadi, known here as Muhammad Hanif Mas Selamat, after Singapore filed a request through Interpol.

"Hanif (Masyhadi) was on a wanted list from Singapore, in connection with terrorism," he told reporters at the Indonesian National Police headquarters.

Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), in a statement on Monday, confirmed that Masyhadi is being investigated "to ascertain if he has been involved in activities that are inimical to the security of Singapore".

As for breaching immigration laws, an Indonesian police officer speaking on condition of anonymity said Masyhadi had overstayed and was found to have used a forged Indonesian identity card.

Police have a choice of prosecuting immigration offenders in court or deporting them.

Ahmad Michdan, a lawyer engaged by Masyhadi's wife and parents-in-law after the arrest, told The Straits Times on Monday that he had not been informed of the deportation and would seek clarification from the police. Not much is known about Masyhadi's wife except that she is Indonesian and still in the country.

Masyhadi went to Indonesia with his family members in 2002 to join his father Mas Selamat, who had fled Singapore following the commencement of investigations into the Singapore JI terrorist network in December 2001.

While on the run, Mas Selamat plotted to hijack a plane from Bangkok and crash it into Changi Airport, but the plan was foiled.

He was arrested twice in Indonesia - in Bintan in 2003 and then in Malang in 2006 - for carrying false identification papers. He was handed over to the Singapore authorities in February 2006.

But he escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre in February 2008. He was captured in Johor in April 2009 and remains in custody in Singapore under the Internal Security Act (ISA).

The young Masyhadi studied at a boarding school in Central Java from primary school age. The school, Darul Saadah in Boyolali, has been linked to the JI. He reportedly taught at the school before becoming a preacher in East Java.

A spokesman for MHA said he could not comment on whether Masyhadi is being held under ISA.

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