Police nab Medan heist gun suspect

The police announced Tuesday the arrest of a suspect alleged to have rented firearms to the gang that robbed a bank in Medan, North Sumatra, last Wednesday.

The suspect, identified as MRA, is an East Aceh resident and was arrested at a hideout in Deli
Serdang regency, North Sumatra, on Monday.

MRA was previously wanted for other armed robberies in Medan Marelan area, Medan and East Aceh, police said.

The unemployed man was arrested in possession of a SS1 rifle.

Police said that MRA admitted that he owned two firearms and often rented his AK47 assault rifle to others.

“MRA has been a target since 2009, after he robbed Mori Land in Medan in 2009,” National Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana told reporters in Jakarta on Tuesday.

North Sumatra Police spokesman Baharuddin Djafar said the arrest was conducted with help from the East Aceh Police, adding that officers were still searching for the gun rented by the suspect.

“We are still interrogating MRA to trace to who he rented the rifle. We are also working to find out where he first obtained it,” Baharuddin told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

He said the police were still trying to learn if MRA rented the gun to the CIMB Niaga bank robbers — or if he himself was one of the robbers.

“We can not yet disclose the details,” said Baharuddin.

On Aug. 18, a group of 16 men armed with M16 and AK47 assault rifles escaped with more than
Rp 300 million (US$33,333) from the bank, killing a police Mobile Brigade officer and injuring two security guards.

Based on a six-minute security camera video released by the North Sumatra Police, six robbers entered the bank. Some pointed guns at employees and customers, while two others rifled through the bank’s cash drawers.

Police said that the video focused mostly on the bank counter and was not helpful.

One NGO in Medan has offered a Rp 100 million reward for anyone, who could provide information leading to the arrest of the robbers.

Aceh Police chief Insp. Gen. Fajar Prihantoro confirmed Tuesday the police’s suspicion that the weapons used in Medan may come from Aceh.

“The weapons are not new and are similar to those used by GAM during the conflict,” he said.

In Aceh, former members of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) said that the now-dissolved group had never been involved in armed robberies — in Medan or elsewhere.

“Even if former GAM members were involved, it would have been beyond official policy and a breach of the Helsinki peace pact,” said former Aceh Besar GAM commander Tengku Hamzah.

GAM launched a bitter struggle for independence from Indonesia in 1976, which led to almost three decades of conflict in Aceh.

The massive tsunami in 2004 that devastated Aceh and killed hundreds of thousands led to the end of the conflict, after representatives from the central government and GAM signed the Helsinki peace agreement in August 2005.

The police have speculated that weapons used in the robbery in Medan were weapons previously used by GAM that had not been turned over to the government, as required in the pact.

Tengku said he had more than 30 guerrillas under his command when he led the GAM in Aceh Besar, but not all were armed.

“My group only had 17 guns of different types, which could be loaned to others for combat,” he said.

He said that the group had bought its weapons and ammunition from different parties and countries —
including the Indonesian police and military.

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Dicky Christanto contributed to the story from Jakarta.