Raid: Police officers cart away evidence after arresting terrorist suspects in Palmerah, West Jakarta, on Saturday. (JP/Jerry Adiguna)

Officers from the National Police Densus 88 counterterrorism unit have arrested 11 suspects and confiscated several live bombs in raids in four cities on Java since late Friday.

Police found explosives in Madiun, East Java, on Friday night, after arresting two suspected terrorists identified as Agus Anton and Warso.

“The bombs were placed inside several 3-kilogram LPG canisters,” National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Suhardi Alius told reporters in Jakarta on Saturday.

The bombs, according to Suhardi, were intended to be detonated at the US and Australian embassies and the headquarters of PT Freeport Indonesia in Jakarta and at the US consulate in Surabaya, East Java.

The suspects also planned to blow up the headquarters of the National Police Mobile Brigade special operations unit in Srondol, in Semarang, Central Java, according to police.

Suhardi claimed the suspects arrested were from a new terrorist group, the Harakah Sunni Untuk Masyarakat Indonesia (Hasmi), or the Popular Indonesia Harakah Sunni Movement.

Following the arrest of two suspects in Madiun, another Densus 88 squad arrested three men in different locations in Jakarta on Saturday afternoon: Davit “Azhar” Ashary and Herman Styono, who were detained in Palmerah, West Jakarta; and Narto, who was detained in Kebon Kacang, Central Jakarta.

Around the same time, officers in Surakarta, Central Java, also arrested three suspects identified as Harun, Budianto and Abu Hanifah, the reported leader of Hasmi.

Finally, officers arrested three additional suspects from the group, Emir, Zainuddin and Usman, in different locations in Bogor, West Java.

“Densus 88 learned of the group’s existence after a thorough investigation,” Suhardi said, declining to specify when the police started to target Hasmi.

Rumors that the group planned to attack the offices of some newspapers and a television station in Palmerah, West Java, could not be confirmed.

Meanwhile, another leader of Hasmi, Adi Mulyadi, denied the police’s claim that the organization is a terrorist group. “Hasmi is a non-violent organization and we focus on preaching,” Adi told The Jakarta Post.

Hasmi had no official response to the police raids, he added.

“We don’t know yet whether the suspected terrorists are our members or not. All I know is that the group will immediately expel any members who practice violence,” Adi said on Saturday.

Contacted separately, Neta S. Pane of the Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) warned the police to watch out for a new breed of terrorists.

“Younger terrorist suspects may have resentment for the police because they think that the police have treated other terrorist suspects viciously,” Neta said.

Udiyanto, a community leader in Palmerah, said that suspects Davit and Herman were arrested at their residence at around 11 a.m.

“Davit and Herman get along well with the neighbors and they have never made any trouble in the neighborhood,” Udiyanto told the Post on Saturday.

According to Udiyanto, the suspects lived with their mother, a factory worker.

“They have been staying at the neighborhood for a very long time,” Udiyanto said on Saturday. (riz/nad)

Popular

Kadin urges stability after Constitutional Court ruling

Jokowi says transition to new government to begi

BCA loan disbursement surges 17.1 percent yoy in first quarter