No one told us about fugitive terrorist: Immigration
Ina Parlina, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 03/30/2011 6:53 PM
No law enforcement agency has asked the immigration office to verify that top terrorist Umar Pate fled Indonesia on a fraudulent passport - as reported by the media, an official says.
“We have not yet received any report related to Umar Patek from the police….We just learned about Umar Patek from the media. We will check it now.” Immigration directorate chief Bambang Irawan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Umar, who was reportedly arrested in Pakistan on March 2, passed through Jakarta’s Soekarno-Hatta International Airport at some point in his travels, according to authorities.
Immigration directorate spokesperson Bambang Catur Puspitowarno said that the directorate had just started to look for records on Umar.
“We are checking our system for Umar Patek, including his aliases, Abu Syekh and Abdul Goni,” Bambang told the Post.
National Police detective chief Comr. Gen. Ito Sumardi previously said there was strong evidence Umar had stopped in Bangkok, Thailand, after leaving Indonesia and before proceeding to Pakistan.
“That information still needs to be verified. We are working it out with the immigration office,” Ito said on the sidelines of the Bali Process conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Wednesday.
Umar allegedly masterminded the 2002 Bali bombing that killed 202 people, working with his aide, Dulmatin, who was shot dead by officers from the National Police’s Detachment 88 counterterrorism unit in 2010.
