2 foreigners arrested for possible links with terrorists
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
Two Bangladeshi men with suspected links to international terrorist networks were arrested in Medan, North Sumatra on Thursday night, a police official said on Friday.
The two foreigners, identified as Huseiri alias Iqbal, 27, and M. Tana Chouduri, 30, were nabbed from a hotel on Jl. Sisingamangaraja in Medan, according to North Sumatra Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Amrin Karim.
"The two suspects entered Medan without proper immigration documents. Currently, the police are still investigating their possible involvement with international terrorist networks," Amrin told The Jakarta Post Friday night.
But the two suspects, according to Amrin, insisted that they were not part of any terror group.
Amrin said the police confiscated from the two men, Indonesian identity cards and passports, 11 cellular phone cards, a bank account book with a balance of Rp 52 million (US$5,700) and gold jewelry.
He said the police had arrested them after receiving complaints from cell phone operator PT Telkomsel, and from two women, Nurhayati and Yustina, who claimed to have been cheated by the two foreigners.
According to Amrin, the two suspects entered Medan together with Nurhayati from Malaysia last month. Nurhayati herself initially worked in Malaysia.
Nurhayati was quoted by Amrin as saying that she agreed to leave Malaysia, after working there for seven months, and came back to Medan as Huseiri alias Iqbal promised to marry her.
Arriving in Medan, the two, with the help of Nuryahati's family, processed Indonesian identity cards so that they could marry quickly. Then, they made family cards, with which they got a local cell phone number under Nuryahati's name.
Tana Chouduri also purchased a Telkomsel phone number from Yustina.
The two made calls to 24 countries, including Malaysia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh and India. They also made calls to conflict areas such as Aceh and Poso in Central Sulawesi.
These calls, made in only 10 days, cost a total Rp 500 million (US$55,000). But when Telkomsel billed Nuryahati and Yustina, the two claimed that they had not used the phones.
According to Amrin, the two Bangladeshis told the police that they were Acehnese. But Amrin said they could not speak Acehnese and only a little Indonesian.
Amrin said the two claimed to have received a wire transfer of some Rp 180 million from a Pakistani named Hasan.