Eight named suspects in police killings
Eight named suspects in police killings
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Police said on Friday they had named eight followers of a little-
known religious sect in Central Sulawesi as suspects for the
killings of three police officers.
The suspects were among at least 72 followers of sect leader
Mahdi who were arrested after a deadly clash on Tuesday with
police near the provincial capital of Palu, National Police
spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said.
He alleged that the eight suspects -- Syahido, 30, Adjamuddin,
40, Bambang, 40, Nangga, 24, Lai, 35, Olimin, 21, Kahar, 21 and
Ryaya, 42 -- were responsible for the deaths of the three police
officers during the clash, including Adj. Comr. Imam Dwi
Haryanto.
"The first four people are believed to have killed Imam using
machetes, while the last four helped drag and hide Imam's body,"
Aryanto told a press conference in Jakarta.
He also said that a total of 117 Mahdi followers, comprising
32 men, 40 women and 45 children, had surrendered to local
police.
Police had also confiscated 18 machetes and a spear believed
to have been used in Tuesday's incident.
The conflict broke out after 16 officers went to the
mountainous Gawalise area near Palu to detain Mahdi for allegedly
spreading heretical Islamic beliefs.
However, the attempt to arrest the 27-year old leader met
strong resistance from his followers, leading to the deaths of
three officers and two sect members.
A day later, police launched a massive raid against the sect
to locate the attackers and Mahdi as they were reportedly holding
several officers hostage in their hideouts.
The search efforts, employing over 300 heavily armed police
and a helicopter, eventually bore fruit, with the three officers
being found alive on Thursday in a forest area near Salena hamlet
where the sect was centered.
"The evacuation process has been completed but police are
intensifying their efforts to find Mahdi," Aryanto said.
He denied that police had violated the basic rights of
citizens to freely practice their religion by attempting to
arrest the sect leader.
Police were merely trying to address public grievances that
the Mahdi-led sect had caused anxiety in his neighborhood,
Aryanto argued.
Human rights activists have lashed out at police for their
"repressive action" against the sect members, saying that it went
against the basic right of freedom of religion.
"We were just trying to negotiate with the sect leader, but
this failed because they (sect members) suddenly attacked us,"
Aryanto said.
He said that currently police were trying to identify and
locate other Mahdi followers, which according to a document they
had found numbered at least 372. --Related story on Page 3