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Police investigate terror suspect allegedly spreading radicalism in school
Following the recent arrest of a former public elementary school headmaster in Lampung, the National Police are investigating the possibility that the person had spread radical ideology among the students, the police's spokesperson said.
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This is a drill: Personnel from the National Police’s antiterrorism squad Densus 88 take action against a simulated terrorist in an exercise in Lebak Bulus MRT station in South Jakarta on Wednesday. (JP/Dhoni Setiawan)
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ollowing the recent arrest of a former public elementary school headmaster in Lampung, the National Police are investigating the possibility that the person had spread radical ideology among the students, the police's spokesperson said.
The suspected terrorist, who was identified as DRS, was arrested by the police’s Densus 88 antiterrorism squad on Tuesday. The police suspect that DRS may have played a key role in raising funds for Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) – a terror group that was behind the 2002 Bali Bombing – through an alms foundation in Pringsewu regency in Lampung, of which the 47-year-old school principal served as the chairman between 2018 and 2020.
“We are still developing our investigation,” National Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ahmad Ramadhan said on Wednesday when asked about the possible dissemination of radical ideology to the students in DRS’ school.
He said the police had put DRS under investigation as the suspect was believed to have intimate knowledge of the flow of money from the foundation to JI.
DRS’s arrest came after the arrest of two others, identified as 59-year-old SU, who reportedly has been a member of JI since 1998 and 61-year-old S, who is also reportedly a JI member, who were arrested separately on Monday and Sunday, respectively.
The three suspects were involved in an alms foundation named Baitul Maal Abdurrahman Bin Auf in Lampung, which the police alleged was a cover for them to raise funds to finance JI’s activities.
“The fundraising program was conducted to send JI members to countries under conflicts such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Ahmad, adding that the move was made to upgrade the terror group members’ military capabilities.
