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ceh Police have arrested a suspect in connection with the shooting to death of a resident during Tuesday'€™s church-burning incident in Aceh Singkil regency.

 '€œWe have arrested the shooting suspect, who allegedly used an illegal firearm. We are currently investigating [the suspect],'€ Aceh Police chief Insp. Gen. Husain Hamidi said on Saturday during a meeting with Muslim residents at the Religious Affairs Ministry'€™s office in Aceh Singkil.

 The police, according to Husain, have also identified two people who had allegedly spread provocative SMS messages regarding the church to local residents.

'€œThey have been under intensive interrogation. [We] did not, however, detain them,'€ he said.

 On Tuesday, hundreds of people grouped under the Islamic Youth movement attacked Suka Makmur village and burned down the Huria Kristen Indonesia (HKI) church.

 One of the alleged perpetrators was shot dead, while three others were injured when residents tried to defend the church. The church is one of many that the group has opposed.

The incident triggered an exodus of thousands of residents, mostly Christians, who left to take shelter in neighboring North Sumatra.

Meanwhile, National Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Suharsono said that there were no more suspects other than 10 named for vandalism and damaging property, who were thought to have been part of the clash in Aceh Singkil on Tuesday. Five of them were still at large, Suharsono added.

'€œThe number of suspects remains the same. We have detained three suspects,'€ he said.

 Suharsono said that aside from hunting down the remaining suspects and investigating whether or not there were more perpetrators in the case, police were also working together with the local administration to convince residents who had fled the area to return.

'€œWhat we'€™re doing with the Aceh administration is trying to convince the residents [who have fled] to return to Aceh Singkil. If they still have doubts [about their safety], then the security forces, made up of the military and police personnel, are prepared to escort them back to their homes,'€ he said.

Suharsono said no one would be kept in detention if the police had no evidence of the person'€™s involvement in the crime.

'€œOf the initial 47 people that were arrested, those who did not have any connection [to the incident] were escorted home,'€ he said.

In an attempt to maintain peace following the church-burning incident, local authorities have initiated separate meetings with Muslim and Christian residents in Aceh Singkil to seek a fair and acceptable settlement to end the sectarian conflict in the region.

After the attack, about 75 percent of the villagers moved to other areas, with many houses in Suka Makmur left empty and locked up.

The police recorded that 3,433 people had moved to Central Tapanuli regency and 976 to Pakpak Bharat regency, both in North Sumatra.
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