Manhunt goes on for Azahari, Noordin<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung<\/p>\n
Police stepped up their manhunt on Saturday for two of the most
\nwanted terror suspects in east Asia, Malaysians Azahari and
\nNoordin Mohd Top, who are currently on the run in the country.<\/p>\n
They were focusing the search on Bandung and the surrounding
\ntowns of Subang, Sukabumi, Garut and Tasikmalaya, all in West
\nJava.<\/p>\n
Thousands of police officers have been deployed to entry
\npoints to all those towns, shopping malls and hotels to track the
\nfugitives who reportedly are still carrying bombs strapped in
\ntheir bodies.<\/p>\n
Large pictures of the fugitives, believed to be have played
\nkey roles in both the Marriott and Bali terror attacks, are
\ndisplayed in malls and hotels.<\/p>\n
Security forces throughout West Java were all reportedly on
\nhigh alert. At Bandung Super Mall, for example, metal detectors
\nand bomb-sniffing dogs are deployed.<\/p>\n
Police are also patrolling housing complexes in Bandung and
\nthe surrounding towns.<\/p>\n
Although the security has been heightened, Bandung police
\nbelieved that the fugitives had outwitted them, but they were
\ncoordinating with police in other towns.<\/p>\n
"We did not manage to arrest the suspects. We have contacted
\npolice in other regions to search for them too," Bandung Police
\nDetectives Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Masguntur Laupe told The Jakarta
\nPost.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a police identification team arrived at Azahari's
\nrented rooms on Jl. Kebon Kembang in Bandung at 9 a.m. on
\nSaturday to continue its investigation, although they already
\ndeclared that there were no more bombs.<\/p>\n
The police officers also brought along two recently captured
\nterror suspects, Tohir and Ismail who were arrested on Wednesday
\nin Cirebon, West Java, to identify evidence found in the rooms.<\/p>\n
After arresting Tohir and Ismail, police raided the rooms on
\nWednesday night but Azahari and Noordin had fled.<\/p>\n
Police found four home-made bombs in the rooms and three more
\non Friday, weighing one kilogram each comprising a mixture of
\nsulfur, TNT and metal pellets.<\/p>\n
Tohir and Ismail have reportedly been moved from one place to
\nanother, while assisting the police, including the Holiday Inn
\nHotel to ensure their safety.<\/p>\n
"We're keeping them in a hotel to prevent a revenge attack by
\nAzahari and Noordin. We are afraid that the fugitives will blow
\nup our police station if we kept them detained there," Masguntur
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, a family member of Tohir alias Masrizal in
\nPekanbaru, Riau, denied Masrizal was involved in the Marriott
\nbombing.<\/p>\n
"So far, we have received no reports from police about my
\nson," Tohir's brother Ali Umar, 63, told The Jakarta Post at his
\nhouse in Rumbai-Pekanbaru district on Saturday.<\/p>\n
He said Tohir left the house one month after the Bali bombing
\nin October last year and he never returned home.<\/p>\n
Azahari, a former professor in statistics at the Malaysian
\nInstitute of Technology, was believed to be the bomb expert in
\nthe Marriott bombings.<\/p>\n
The professor and his accomplices are also accused of being
\nmembers of Jamaah Islamiyah terror network, which was listed by
\nthe United Nations as a terrorist group and linked with Al-Qaeda.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/manhunt-goes-on-for-azahari-noordin-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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