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Japanese authorities had arrested two Indonesians on suspicion that they had violated local laws on rifle possession and trading, an official said on Friday.
Muhammad Iqbal, protection for Indonesian citizens director at the Foreign Ministry, said that a consular official at the Indonesian Embassy in Tokyo received information about the arrest on Wednesday.
"IR (aged 31) and DN (aged 40) were arrested for allegedly violating foreign exchange currency and international trade Laws," he said as reported by Antara news agency.
Iqbal said the Tokyo police had observed the two Indonesians purchasing hunting rifles several times through online shopping portals. They also allegedly sent the rifles to Indonesia on two separate occasions via an express postal service.
According to Japanese regulations, hunting rifles must go through a tight permit process before they can be shipped overseas.
The police officers also said they had found 29 similar hunting rifles when they searched the Indonesians' apartment.
"The Tokyo Metropolitan Police suspect that they are related to foreign terrorist fighters," Iqbal said.
He added that police had also discovered a video of the deceased Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and footage and pictures of radical groups on the Facebook accounts of the two Indonesians.
The Japanese authorities made further inquiries into who the rifles were sent to and what their purpose was, he said.
The Indonesian Embassy in Japan has said that it would accompany the two Indonesians and make sure their legal rights were upheld, he said.
Iqbal said that the embassy had only received notification from the Japan authorities relating to IR, but not yet for DN. The embassy said it was still trying to ascertain if DN had requested that the embassy not be notified or if there was another reason behind it, he said. (rin)
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