Second Noordin look-alike arrested, released by police

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

In the latest incident that could serve to illustrate the police's incompetence in hunting down terrorists, police in West Java arrested a man they mistook for one of the country's most wanted terror suspects -- Noordin Mohd. Top.

Police in the town of Cimahi, West Java, arrested on Friday Heri Gunawan, a man who closely resembled the terror suspect blamed for a string of deadly bomb attacks in the country over the past two years.

Cimahi Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Slamet Uliandi said that Heri, a native of Tangerang, Banten, who worked for PT Anugerah Asih Abadi in Cimahi, was arrested in Jayagiri, Lembang, his wife's home town.

Heri was then brought to a police station, was questioned and had his fingerprints taken before being released.

He was arrested based on a tip-off given by intelligence officers from the city police.

Slamet, however, defended the police saying that they had taken the necessary precautionary measures.

"We have to watch out for all suspicious-looking people and if needs be we have to arrest them. It doesn't matter if we are wrong as we have detected indications of possible danger," he told The Jakarta Post.

Police have intensified their manhunt against key terrorist suspects Azahari and Nordin Top, who have been accused of masterminding virtually all terrorist attacks in the country, including the Bali attacks in October 2002, the J.W. Marriott Hotel attack in August 2003, and the Australian Embassy bombing in September this year.

Finding the two suspects is indeed like looking for a needle in a haystack, as Friday's arrest was the fifth wrongful arrest by the police.

Earlier this month, police in Bakauheni, Lampung, apprehended a man on a pilgrimage to visit the graves of Muslim leaders. He was taken in by police because of his resemblance to Noordin.

The National Police have deployed some 3,000 police officers to comb the western and southern parts of West Java, where Noordin and his ally Dr. Azahari bin Husin likely have a hideout.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar had said that he was optimistic that the two terrorist suspects would be apprehended within three months as had been ordered by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

Earlier this week, police announced that they had arrested four suspects accused of playing significant roles in the bombing outside the Australian Embassy in Kuningan, South Jakarta.