The identity of a man shot dead Saturday in Temanggung, Central Java, remained a mystery as of Monday, spurring speculation among the public and suspicion from local and international experts.

Despite claims made by National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri on Saturday that it was too soon to positively identify the body as that of Noordin M. Top, Indonesia's most-wanted terror suspect and a prominent recruiter and motivator for the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group, a number of police officers were convinced it was him.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Nanan Soekarna hinted here Monday that police still believed the body was that of Noordin, but said this could only be confirmed with results of DNA tests that would take at least two weeks to complete.

“Please do not pressure us. If we are pressured, we might get it wrong,” Nanan said in Jakarta.
On Saturday, police took a blood sample from Noordin's son in Malaysia.

Police have refused to publish a photograph of the Temanggung man, but on Monday several publications and TV stations released an image of a man claimed to be the Temanggung man.

However, a mother from Gorontalo said the photo was a picture of her son who had committed suicide recently.

With police keeping tight-lipped, speculation has been rife on the identity of the Temanggung man.
Some say he is Noordin’s father-in-law, Baridin, while others say he is Ibrohim, a JI member who worked as a florist at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel during the suicide bombing attacks last month.

Ibrohim was said to have orchestrated the attack from the inside for two JI suicide bombers, 18-year-old Dani Dwi Permana and 28-year-old Nana Ihwan Maulana.

Al Chaidar, a former member of Indonesian Islamic State (NII), said the Temanggung man was not Noordin, and that police were merely creating a show to boost the public image of the current government.

Many members of NII have reportedly been recruited by Noordin as suicide bombers.

Other observers, including Eggi Sudjana, said the drama in Temanggung was an effort to draw public attention away from the presidential election fraud case currently underway at the Constitutional Court.

Rohan Gunaratna, the head of the Singapore-based International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research, and International Crisis Group director Sidney Jones also doubted the dead man was Noordin.

Meanwhile, the police Special Detachment-88 counterterrorism  unit apprehended two more suspects in Pereng village in Klaten, Central Java, and launched a raid in Bantul, Yogyakarta province.

However, the continuing raids on alleged terrorist hideouts had left a traumatic scar, some residents said.

"Right now, we only go out to our rice fields if it is really necessary. We are very afraid of the possibility of another police attack or raid,” said Sukarjo, the head of a village that was targeted during a police raid.

“At night, residents cannot sleep well because they wake up as soon as they hear a car passing. They are worried the car could belong to the police and that another attack is about to take place." (hdt)

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