The NII, which has existed since the early 1950s, has been blamed for the disappearance of a number of university students in several regions in the country, alleged to have been brainwashed into joining the movement.

The group, which aspires to turn Indonesia into an Islamic state, has recently been linked to terrorism after a former member, Pepi Fernando, allegedly masterminded a terror attack plan that included planting a bomb weighing 150 kilograms next to a gas pipeline near a Catholic church  in Serpong, Tangerang, last week.

National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said Pepi had testified he was a member of the NII in 1998. “But [Pepi] wanted to leave to continue his fight independently,” he said.

The police are conducting investigations to reveal other possible suspects in Pepi’s network, he said.

The police are yet to identify the NII a terror group. However, precautionary measures have been taken and detectives have been deployed to map out its members, particularly in big cities.

“There are pockets on the outskirts of Bekasi and Pondok Gede and surrounding areas, as well as Tangerang,” Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sutarman said, adding that police had been monitoring these areas.

“So far their activities have involved brainwashing people, recruiting [followers] and trickery,” he said. A number of universities have also stepped up their level of caution, establishing crisis centers where students can report indoctrination efforts and recruitment activities conducted by the group.

Gadjah Mada University (UGM) in Yogyakarta is preparing a team tasked with assisting students who may have been persuaded to join the movement and are now acting as recruiters. At least four UGM students have reportedly been exposed to NII indoctrination.

The Yogyakarta Police previously arrested two female university students who are alleged to have recruited new members for the NII movement. The arrest was made after the two tried to lure another university student to join the group.

In regions across the archipelago, police forces are also clamping down on the movement.

The Lampung Police said it had hit the ground running for an investigation on NII recruitment activities across the region.

“Beside students, NII recruitment in Lampung allegedly targets [residents in] rural areas. We are involving every district and sectoral police [in the investigation],” Lampung Police spokeswoman Adj. Sr. Comr. Sulistyaningsih said.

The North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Wisjnu Amat Sastro said he had instructed his team to increase the frequency of routine operations and surveillance of local residents to identify if the NII had developed its network in the region.

He encouraged locals to report to the police if they believed there had been “suspicious activities” that could be related to the NII group.

NII’s seemingly widespread indoctrination and recruitment activities came under the public spotlight recently when a number of people, mostly university students, were reported missing. Some victims claimed they had joined a discussion on religion, which argued that the Indonesian laws were against the Koran. They also said they were then baptized as members of the NII movement.

The government’s failure in detecting the crusade movement of NII was lambasted by Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD.

“I am aghast over how the massive movement went undetected. This makes no sense, [they] have recruited tens of thousands of followers without being detected. This is very dangerous,” he said.

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