Sigit Qurdowi is alleged mastermind of suicide bomb in Cirebon: Police

The police have identified Sigit Qurdowi as the alleged mastermind behind a suicide bomb attack at a mosque in the Cirebon Police compound last month.

Sigit and another terror suspect, Hendro, were killed in a gunfight with police anti-terror squad Detachment 88 in Cemani, Solo, Central Java, on Saturday. The police seized three firearms, an active grenade and 100 types of mixed ammunition from the dead suspects.

Police also suspect Sigit was a leader of a terror network called Tauhid Wal Jihad, believed to be based in Sukoharjo and Solo.

“The arrest of the suspects in Surakarta and Sukoharjo resulted from the arrest of suspects in Cirebon who are part of the Tauhid Wal Jihad group,” National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said on Saturday.

Anton added that Sigit allegedly taught bomb making techniques to several other suspects in other bomb attacks. Several of these other suspects have already been arrested around the Central Java area.

“He [Sigit] trained groups of young people in Central Java,” he said, as reported by tribunnews.com.

Sigit has been listed on the police’s wanted list as a suspect in a number of bomb threats.

Anton confirmed that Sigit was the mastermind in the suicide bomb attack at the Cirebon police precinct.

“The terror group that attacked the mosque in the Cirebon Police compound is an extension of the string of terror [attacks] conducted by Sigit Qurdowi and his network,” he said.

He added that the chase against Sigit started when Detachment 88 arrested members of Tauhid Wal Jihad between April 17 and Mei 6, 2011.

The arrested members were Achmad Basuki,  Arief Budiman, Andri Siswanto,  Musholla and  Ishak Andriana.

Detachment 88 then arrested a group who had supplied firearms to the network in Boyolali, Central Java and Depok, West Java, on May 8. The group consisted of  Ibrohim, Ferdiansyah and  Zulkifli. The police seized 214 bullets and seven AK-47 magazines from the suspects.

After that, Detachment 88 members caught four suspects in Surakarta on May 12 and 13, 2011. The four suspects were  Edi Tri Wiyanto,  Hari Budiarto,  Ari Budi Santoso and  Arifin Nurharyono. The police seized from the suspects 500 bullets of different caliber used in guns and rifles.