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Two N. Sumatra men arrested as suspected IS sympathizers
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Armed police personnel are on guard in this April 11 photo, after a suspected Islamic State member attacked three Banyumas Police officers with a machete. (JP/Agus Maryono)
N
orth Sumatra's Labuhan Batu Police have arrested two men over the weekend on suspicions of being sympathizers of the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.
The two men, AK, 28, and FG, 27, were arrested Friday evening in the Sigambal area of Labuhan Batu regency, said the Labuhan Batu Police's head of criminal investigation Adj. Comr. Teuku Fathir Mustafa.
The arrests resulted from a traffic operation conducted in the area. The police suspected AK of being an IS sympathizer as he reportedly sent a text message to a friend when he was netted during the raid that said: “I was arrested by thogut”. Thogut is derived from an Arabic word meaning people who disobey God’s regulations, or infidel.
Not long after the message was sent, FG arrived at the location of the raid, demanding the police to release his friend. The police then decided to apprehend the two and take them to the Labuhan Batu police station for questioning.
In their initial investigation, the police found materials related to radical Islam in FG’s house, confirming their suspicions that the two are IS supporters.
“We are still investigating their connection to IS networks,” Teuku Fathir said on Sunday.
