2 foreigners arrested for possible links with terrorists
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.