The police said they have apprehended a teenager who allegedly designed a bomb that was meant to be used in an attack on the Better Beer Festival 2017, entertainment outlets and non-Muslim places of worship.

In a press conference today, inspector-general of police Mohamad Fuzi Harun said the 19-year-old suspected terrorist was arrested in Kelantan on Wednesday.

The police also arrested a former military personnel, 34, who allegedly financed the bombmaker. A third suspect aged 25 was also arrested, but no further details were given.

Fuzi said the suspects had tested an improvised explosive device (IED) in Pasir Puteh on Sept 28.

Following this, the police counter-terrorism division (E8) raided the main suspect's home and seized PVC pipes, eight AA batteries, six light bulbs, two mobile phones, firecrackers, sparklers, matches, fuse, cobalt and drawings, among others.

He added that the Form 6 student was supposed to sit for exams on Nov 6.

In view of the arrest, Fuzi said this disproved allegations that the police had made up excuses to object to the Better Beer Festival 2017 in Kuala Lumpur.

"We strongly reject allegations that I made up terrorism excuses with regards (to our objections against) the alcohol festival.

"Allegations that we were trying to hide something is not accurate. We were performing investigations," he said.

The Better Beer Festival 2017 was canned after failing to obtain the green light from police, which was a requirement by the Kuala Lumpur City Hall.

At the time, the police warned that the event was a target for militants. 

Critics claimed that the event was likely axed due to political pressure and that the police should have nabbed the so-called militants instead of preventing the event from proceeding.