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ATAM: A letter containing terror threats regarding a number of places in Batam and Bintan during Idul Fitri and written on behalf of the Insaf Islamic group was found in Singapore recently.

Batam and Bintan in Riau Islands province are major business and tourist destinations for Singaporeans.

The letter was sent on July 1, based on its post office stamp, and was addressed to the manager of the Fast Ferry service at the HarbourFront Centre. The letter, which was received on July 4, stated that a number of sites would be blown up, such as the Port of Batam, Nagoya shopping district, Telani Port in Bintan and Tanjungpinang City.

The letter also said that members of the militant group who would carry out the attacks had arrived at the locations two weeks earlier. Following the distribution of the letter, Riau Islands Police implemented an alert status and posted additional police personnel at the sites specified in the letter.

Riau Islands Police chief spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Hartono said on Sunday that the police could not yet comment on the issue. “We’re still investigating.”

Earlier, Tanjungpinang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Kristian P. Siagian confirmed the presence of leaflets mentioning the threats and said the police were investigating.

“Following the bomb attack at the Surakarta Police [headquarters] in Central Java, we’ve further heightened security in Tanjungpinang city, especially at district and subdistrict police stations and facilities such as ports,” he said. — JP