Singapore  - Singapore's most-wanted terrorist, Mas Selamat, has been arrested in Malaysia following a huge manhunt after he escaped in February 2008 from a top-security Singapore detention centre, media reports said Friday.

The 48-year-old suspected Islamic terrorist was captured on April 1 while hiding in Malaysia's state Johor, The Straits Times newspaper reported, citing regional intelligence sources. He is believed to be detained in Johor.

It was not known how he slipped out of Singapore or when he entered Malaysia.

Born in Indonesia, Mas Selamat is suspected of leading Singapore's wing of the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiah militant group.

He had allegedly planned to hijack a plane and crash it into Singapore's Changi airport.

His arrest reportedly occurred around the same time that Malaysian authorities captured three other people for suspected activities linked to Jemaah Islamiah, the report said.

Mas Selamat was first arrested in 2003 in Indonesia and served an 18-month prison term before he went missing.

He was captured a second time while using a fake identity card and was handed over to Singapore authorities in February 2006.

He was held in the city-state's top-security detention centre on Whitley Road under the Internal Security Act, which permits indefinite incarceration without trial.

Mas Selamat managed to escape by duping his guards during a toilet break on February 27, 2008.

Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng described the mistakes and security lapses at the time as being "so simple as to appear silly and incredible."

Mas Selamat's escape triggered the biggest manhunt in Singapore's history.

Security personnel were put on round-the-clock duty securing land and sea borders, guarding all land, air and sea routes out of Singapore, scouring nature reserves and forests and knocking on doors of homes.

Thousands of wanted posters of Mas Selamat were distributed and plastered around the city-state.

The escape and subsequent failure to capture the suspected terrorist in the tiny city-state brought Singapore authorities under massive public criticism. (dpa)