The National Police have arrested three suspects alleged to have been involved in a string of armed robberies and bombings, including explosions at the Ekayana Buddhist Temple in Jakarta in August.

National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Monday that the force'€™s Densus 88 counterterrorism unit and the Jakarta Police had conducted a joint operation that had led to arrests in three separate locations in Greater Jakarta on Dec. 11 and 15.

'€œOn Dec. 11, we arrested Fahri, a.k.a Agus. He'€™s linked to Thoriq'€™s group in Bojong Gede [Depok, West Java]. He supplied black powder and some chemical substances to the group.

He was arrested at Jl. Perwira Satu, North Bekasi,'€ Boy said in a press briefing at the National Police headquarters in Jakarta.

On Sept. 9 2012, Muhammad Thoriq surrendered himself after police found explosives at his home in Tambora, West Jakarta. He testified explosives were to be used to bomb targets in the city.

He later told of his involvement in the making of a makeshift bomb that accidentally exploded in Beji, Depok, on Sept. 8 2012.

Thoriq added he had prepared for a suicide bomb attack in Jakarta in September.

The West Jakarta District Court has sentenced Thoriq to seven years in prison.

On Sunday, the joint police squad detained Rade Iwan Kurniawan, also known by his initials RR, in Lamongan, East Java, and AB in North Bekasi. The two are alledgedly members of a terrorist cell led by
Kodrat, which made off with 1.5 kilograms of gold from the Terus Jaya Gold Shop in Tambora, West Jakarta, in March.

Kodrat was shot dead in a police raid in the same month.

Separately, National Police chief Gen. Sutarman said RR had been involved in the bombing of Ekayana Buddhist Temple in West Jakarta on Aug. 4, during the holy month of Ramadhan.

Two low-powered devices went off inside the temple during a crowded sermon, injuring three and destroying part of the site.

'€œRR was involved in the Ekayana Temple bombing. During his arrest, we confiscated 28 firearms '€” both homemade and factory-made, 18 airsoft guns and 3,000 bullets,'€ Sutarman said during a meeting with House ofRepresentatives Commission III overseeing legal affairs and human rights at the House of Representatives compound on Monday.

The police suspected the bombing was related to violent clashes between Rohingya Muslims and Rakhine Buddhists in northern Rakhine state, Myanmar.

The clashes, which left around 200 dead and tens of thousands displaced, have attracted both sympathy and resentment in Indonesia, the most populous Muslim-majority country in the world.

Some Islamic groups staged protests and donated humanitarian aid, while others retaliated against the Myanmar government and Buddhists.

Prior to the temple bombing, the police foiled a bomb plot targeting the Myanmar Embassy in Jakarta on May 2. The plan was hatched by several members of Islamic State of Indonesia (NII).

Late last week, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday warned of possible security threats during the Christmas and New Year period.

Yudhoyono said although he was confident political parties'€™ elites would be able to campaign peacefully, he warned that Christmas and New Year could be used by certain political candidates to smear the reputations of their
competitors.

Sutarman also said the police had been monitoring what could be deemed terrorist activity.

'€œThere'€™s been some movements from one region to another. There'€™s a possibility this could be related to, for example, efforts to assemble explosives,'€ he said.

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