INDONESIA: Police say they are searching for three suspects in connection with a series of armed robberies and a violent attack on a police station

Record ID: 643956

  • Title: INDONESIA: Police say they are searching for three suspects in connection with a series of armed robberies and a violent attack on a police station
  • Date: 25th September 2010
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
  • Embargoed: 10th October 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Indonesia
  • Country: Indonesia
  • Reuters ID: LVA5W7CRN6LV2WZ7LO0JYLBX0DJZ
  • Story Text: Indonesian police released photographs of three suspects on Friday (September 24), following a violent attack on a police station and a series of robberies in Northern Sumatra.
    Over a dozen gunmen on motorcycles attacked a police station in western Indonesia on Wednesday (September 22), killing three officers in an apparent revenge attack against the police.
    Police Chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri showed a picture of the alleged ringleader of the group.
    "Mustofa alias Abu Thollut is the main figure in this group. He is the mastermind who arranged all of the activities," he said during a news conference in Jakarta.
    The police station that was targeted was two kilometres (one mile) away from where police had earlier captured and killed three members of a group of Islamic militants who had carried out a number of armed robberies.
    Holding up a second photograph, police chief Danuri said another alleged group- member was a former convict.
    "Jeffri alias Kamal, he is the member of this group, he is an ex-prisoner, " he said.
    Police say they believe the group that attacked the police station were also behind a high-profile bank robbery.
    Danuri named a third suspect as Taufik Hidayat: "He was involved in the CIMB bank robbery, he is on the wanted list. We will hunt down him, wherever he is," he said.
    The gunmen were believed to have links to a militant group that ran a training camp in Aceh, in northern Sumatra island, and that had planned to stage a coup against President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, a police spokesman said.
    Police say militants may be switching tactics from bombing Westerners -- such as in nightclubs in Bali in 2002 and luxury hotels in Jakarta last year -- to armed attacks on state targets and institutions such as the president and the police.
    Indonesia's poor gun control and corruption are allowing extremist networks access to arms that may be used in sniper-style killings or bank robberies to help fund militancy, an international think tank said this month.
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