JAKARTA - The Indonesian Police's anti-terror squad Densus 88 (Special Detachment 88) has arrested a suspected terrorist in Bekasi City in West Java, a spokesman said.
The suspect, identified by his
initials as DE, is believed to be a supporter of the terrorist network ISIS and
was allegedly spreading terror propaganda on social media actively, said police
spokesperson Brig. Gen Ahmad Ramadhan.
He said DE is an employee at a
state-run company and was captured recently in Bulak Sentul, Harapan Jaya,
North Bekasi Sub-district.
The suspect reportedly posted a
digital poster containing the text of an oath of allegiance to the Islamic
State leader Abu Al Husain Al Husain Al Quraysi on his Facebook
account. The text was in both Arabic and Indonesian. "The suspect was
allegedly involved in fundraising," Ramadhan said.
DE reportedly joined a group on messaging platform Telegram and served as an
admin at Breaking News, an update channel on global terrorism.
Ramadhan said the police questioned
DE and searched his house in Harapan Jaya Village. The anti-terror squad seized
homemade firearms, ammunition, books, a laptop, and a camera from his house.
This is not the first time a state-owned firm employee has been arrested in
connection with terrorism. Earlier in September 2021, Densus 88 arrested a
suspected terrorist, identified by the initial S, in Bekasi who was an employee
of state-run pharmaceutical firm PT Kimia Farma.
In May, Densus 88 also
arrested two suspected terrorists of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and Jamaah
Ansharut Daulah (JAD) terrorist groups in East Java. The suspects were identified
by their initials as Y, a member of JI; and T, from the JAD group. Both have
been named as suspects.
On March 17, 2023, the squad captured five suspected terrorists of the JI
network in Palu City and Sigi, Central Sulawesi. Furthermore, on January 20,
2023, three suspected members of the JI terrorist group were arrested in the
provinces of Jakarta and Banten. (ANTARA)
