Laskar Jihad link in Nganjuk blast negated<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): A survivor and prime witness of Tuesday's car
\nblast in Nganjuk has denied any links with the Laskar Jihad Ahlus
\nSunnah Wal Jamaah (Jihad Force) and said he thought he was only
\ntransporting foodstuff.<\/p>\n
Nasruddin Adi Sucipto, 19, -- one of the four passengers of a
\nSuzuki minivan which exploded while carrying a load of munitions
\n-- was arrested by local police at a relative's house in
\nKedungrejo, Geneng district in Ngawi regency, on Thursday
\nmorning.<\/p>\n
Adi's brother-in-law, Rifzikka Helta, was the driver of the
\nvan and died instantly in the blast which occurred in Nganjuk,
\n130 kilometers southwest of here.<\/p>\n
According to Nganjuk Police chief Lt. Col. Nyoman Bratajaya,
\nduring police questioning Adi rejected suggestions that he was a
\nmember of Laskar Jihad.<\/p>\n
\"Adi even persisted that he had no idea the van was carrying
\nammunition and grenades,\" Bratajaya said.<\/p>\n
\"Adi said his brother told him that the boxes contained snacks
\nand food and that Helta asked him to help sell it in Surabaya.<\/p>\n
\"Apart from that Adi said he used to sell perfume which was
\nbought in the Sunan Ampel area in Surabaya,\" Bratajaya told the
\nmedia on Friday.<\/p>\n
The officer also revealed that Adi only admitted to being a
\ncodriver in the van.<\/p>\n
However, it was ascertained that Helta had previously spent
\ntwo weeks in Ambon.<\/p>\n
\"But Adi said that he had no knowledge of Helta's activities.
\nAdi is still in shock and suffering burn wounds in his right
\nthigh. He's being detained in Nganjuk,\" Bratajaya added.<\/p>\n
Adi was sitting in the back of the van with another survivor,
\nAzmi Ishaq, 32, a student of the Al Ikhlas Pesantren (Islamic
\nboarding school) in Jember, East Java.<\/p>\n
Azmi is in critical condition in hospital due to severe burns.<\/p>\n
Besides Helta, the second passenger killed in the blast has
\nbeen identified as Wiji, a local from Jl. Magelang in Yogyakarta.<\/p>\n
East Java Police detectives found pieces of a Belgian-made
\ngrenade, a homemade bomb, hundreds of rounds of 5.56 millimeter
\nbullets for M-16 rifles and an assortment of bullets of various
\ncalibers ranging from 6.3 mm to 9 mm in remnants of the
\nexplosion.<\/p>\n
Police have not ruled out the possibility that the munitions
\nwere leftover from weapons smuggled through Tanjung Perak seaport
\nto Ambon.<\/p>\n
Nganjuk Police also discovered several handwritten and printed
\ndocuments, one of which contains a call for people to join the
\nJihad Force and raise funds for the jihad movement in Maluku.<\/p>\n
In a related development, Yogyakarta Police also found sharp
\nweapons, boots, an iron pole and two kilograms of gunpowder in
\nHelta's rented house in Mulungan, Sleman, north of Yogyakarta,
\nSleman Police chief Lt. Sumar said on Friday.<\/p>\n
None of Helta's neighbors were willing to talk to the media.
\nThey only said Helta was a good Muslim, was married to Siti
\nJuwarni, Adi's sister, and had two children.<\/p>\n
Helta's family lawyer Iwan Satriawan, however, criticized the
\npolice action, saying that Helta's alleged link to Laskar Jihad
\nis \"baseless\".<\/p>\n
Later in the day, spokesman of Yogyakarta-based Laskar Jihad
\nAhlus Sunnah Wal Jamaah Ayip Syafruddin denied the group's
\ninvolvement in the blast.<\/p>\n
\"None of the four victims (of the blast) were Laskar Jihad
\nmembers. The documents found by the police were public documents
\nwhich we issued as a call for a jihad and to collect funds. We
\nreally hope for a fair investigation here,\" Ayip said.
\n(44\/swa\/nur\/edt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/laskar-jihad-link-in-nganjuk-blast-negated-1447893297",
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