The National Police announced the arrest of suspected terrorist Eko Prasetyo on Friday. Police also released a list of terrorism suspects. On Monday, National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said police would launch a terrorism crackdown in the near future. (Antara Photo)
The National Police’s Detachment 88 counterterrorist unit has arrested suspected terrorist fugitive Eko Prasetyo in Lamongan, East Java.
National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Edward Aritonang said on Friday that Eko, who goes by the aliases of Zubeir and Suheir, was a member of the armed paramilitary training camp in the Jalin Jantho mountains of Aceh Besar, Aceh.
“The suspect was arrested on Monday at 11 a.m., at the Mbabat Mosque complex in Lamongan,” Edward said.
In late February, police arrested scores of suspects who were being trained at a paramilitary camp in Aceh’s remote Jalin Jantho region.
Those arrests prompted a massive manhunt across the province. Since the initial raid, dozens of suspected terrorists have been arrested, both in Aceh and in Java.
Police have also killed as many as eight suspects, including Dulmatin, an alleged terrorist mastermind who was gunned down during a raid in Pamulang, Tangerang, in March.
Police had also confiscated 29 firearms, 21,000 rounds of bullets and more than Rp 100 million ($11,000) in cash along with several military training outfits from the alleged terrorists, Edward said.
“Some of the firearms were bought from a police officer. At least 12 pieces I believe. The officer sold them for something like Rp 6 million,” he said, adding that the rest were smuggled in from the Philippines
At least 11 people suspected of having ties with the alleged terrorist group are still at large, including Umar Patek, who is believed to be behind a string of bombings in the country.
National Police Chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri said on Monday that the police’s elite antiterrorism squad would soon launch a major crackdown on suspected terrorists operating across the country.
“God willing, we will launch the crackdown in the very near future. Suspects will hopefully be arrested,” Bambang told lawmakers during a hearing with House of Representatives Commission III, overseeing security affairs.
“These networks are linked to members of older cells that we have already arrested,” he said.
Bambang told lawmakers that, as a report released by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group claimed, the recent arrests of terror suspects revealed corrupt police officials had helped militants acquire weapons.
“It is ironic because now we know that they used our own guns to kill three police officers during a gun battle in Aceh,” Bambang said, referring to an incident in the Lamkabeu subdistrict of Aceh Besar on March 4.
The International Crisis Group report detailed how one alleged militant linked to the Aceh paramilitary group, a policeman identified as Sofyan Tsauri, was able to purchase weapons from the logistics department of National Police headquarters.
He also arranged shooting practice for militants inside the headquarters of the elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob), on the outskirts of Jakarta. Sofyan, who was found to possess a vast collection of extremist literature, was arrested in early March.
“Sofyan had 12 AR-15 rifles and about 12,000 bullets. He had been influenced by a militant cleric,” Bambang told legislators.
