Ambon Police arrest seven suspects over Acehnese murders<\/p>\n
Muhammad Azis Tunny, The Jakarta Post, Ambon, Maluku<\/p>\n
Police arrested on Wednesday seven men who are suspected of
\nbeing behind the recent kidnapping and murder of three Acehnese
\nmen, but officers remained in the dark over the motive.<\/p>\n
The suspects led police officers to the graves of the three
\nAcehnese in the hills of Batumerah near the provincial capital of
\nAmbon.<\/p>\n
The body of Tengku Fauzi, alias Abu Jihad, was found in a
\nshallow grave, about one meter deep. Police plan to exhume the
\nother two bodies, Ahmad Saridu and Edi Putra, alias ustadz
\n(Islamic religious teacher) Edi, on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Police said they were kidnapped and murdered in February.<\/p>\n
Police identified six of the suspects as Hermanto alias Yanto,
\nMansur Fataruba alias Tucek, Abdullah Prawira, Yudi Saptura,
\nGanes and Syarif Tarabubun. Hermanto allegedly led the group,
\nwhile Syarif is a police officer in Ambon. His rank was not
\ndisclosed.<\/p>\n
Police said that Abu Jihad, Ahmad and Edi came to Ambon to
\ninvest in a clove business. They were abducted from the Nisma
\nHotel in Ambon on February 23, 24 and 25 but murdered at the same
\ntime, police disclosed.<\/p>\n
They said Mansur confessed to the killing, saying that he felt
\nguilty after murdering ustadz Edi.<\/p>\n
He said Hermanto ordered the murders for which he paid Mansur
\nRp 1 million (about US$117).<\/p>\n
He said Hermanto took an ATM card belonging to Abu Jihad and
\nused it to withdraw Rp 45 million from the victim's bank
\naccounts.<\/p>\n
Police were able to identify the suspects after they used Abu
\nJihad's ATM card. Security cameras were able to catch the
\nsuspects' faces on film as they withdrew the money.<\/p>\n
However, police said they were looking for three more
\nsuspects.<\/p>\n
Maluku Police chief Brig. Gen. Bambang Sutrisno said the three
\nsuspects might have escaped to the South Sulawesi capital of
\nMakassar.<\/p>\n
A motive for the killing has not been established yet, said
\nthe police chief.<\/p>\n
A source at the police said they were execution-style murders,
\nand that the killers and victims were members representing
\nopposing camps within the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) terrorist group.<\/p>\n
He said Abu Jihad was a senior JI member, who was killed by
\nhis rivals in the organization. However, he gave no details of an
\ninternal rift within the organization which could prompt the
\nkillings.<\/p>\n
Ustadz Edi, the source said, was killed while he was praying.
\nThe victim asked his killers to let him pray, but before he could
\nfinish they hit him with an iron pole and a shovel with which
\nthey had dug his grave, he said.<\/p>\n
JI is a shadowy terrorist organization with bases reportedly
\nin Singapore and Malaysia. It allegedly aims to establish
\nan Islamic state in the region.<\/p>\n
Police believe that JI was behind last year's terrorist strike
\nin Bali, which killed at least 202 people, mainly foreign
\ntourists.<\/p>\n
So far there have been no official reports of a JI presence in
\nMaluku. The province is still recovering from three years of
\nfighting between Muslims and Christians. Laskar Jihad was the
\nonly known militant Muslim organization operating in Maluku.<\/p>\n
Makassar, where the three suspects have allegedly fled to, is
\nknown to have a terrorist group with links to JI.<\/p>\n
There have also not been any reports of a JI presence in
\nIndonesia's westernmost province of Aceh, where rebels have been
\nfighting for independence since 1976.<\/p>\n
Links between terrorism and the struggle for independence in
\nAceh surfaced with the bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange
\nbuilding in September 2000. Several recent bomb blasts in Jakarta
\nand in Medan, North Sumatra, have also born the mark of Acehnese
\nrebels. However, the rebels have denied these charges.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ambon-police-arrest-seven-suspects-over-acehnese-murders-1447893297",
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