T

he Jakarta Police have arrested two men, identified only as CC and KR, for allegedly assembling illegal guns and supplying them to suspected terrorists in Cipacing, Sumedang, West Java.

'€œWe arrested both suspects at 3 p.m. on Sunday at their home in Rancaekek district, Bandung, West Java,'€ city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto told a press conference on Monday.

He said that police personnel tracked down the suspects after receiving information regarding their whereabouts from IK, an illegal gun supplier arrested by police in Cipacing on Aug. 20.

'€œThe suspects had supplied illegal guns to suspected terrorists since 2011,'€ he said.

City police criminal investigation director Sr. Comr. Slamet Riyanto said that the two men claimed to have learned to assemble guns on their own after they had spent two years selling airguns.

Rikwanto said that the police confiscated two 9-millimeter caliber guns, two half-assembled 9-millimeter caliber guns, 28 rounds of 9-millimieter caliber bullets, a drill and a steel file from the suspects.

'€œCC'€™s job is to receive orders while KR is responsible for assembling the guns. CC also had other people who assembled guns for him and we will question him about their identities and whereabouts,'€ he said.

He said that during CC'€™s two-year career as a gun supplier, he supplied dozens of guns to more than 10 different buyers.

City police crime sub-directorate chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Herry Heryawan said the preliminary investigation conducted by his team revealed that the two men also supplied guns to two other suspected terrorists: William Maksum, who was arrested by Densus 88 on May 7, and Nurul Haq, who was on the police most-wanted list for allegedly being involved in a string of shootings against four policemen in August, which left three officers dead.

'€œCC supplied 10 guns to Maksum in 2012,'€ he told a press conference on Monday.

'€œHe also supplied two FN guns and a box of bullets to Nurul in late 2011 as well as a 38-caliber revolver and 50 rounds of bullets in January 2012.'€

Herry said that Maksum used guns supplied by the two suspects to commit fa'€™i operations at a rural bank in Batujajar and a post office in Cibaduyut, both in Bandung, in 2012.

Fa'€™i is an Islamic teaching that permits stealing from infidels for the sake of jihad.

Herry said preliminary investigations strongly indicated that both CC and MK worked for a logistics division of a terrorist network.

'€œHowever, we have to interrogate them further to unravel the network,'€ he said.

Slamet said that the police would interrogate the two men further to find out who had supplied gun parts and bullets for them.

'€œWe will also ask them to identify their fellow illegal gun suppliers in Cipacing,'€ he told a press conference on Monday.

Rikwanto said that if the men were proven guilty, they would be charged with Articles 1 and 2 of Emergency Law No. 12/1951 in reference to the 1936 Firearms Law on illegal possession of firearms, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. (ogi)