Because Terrorists Also Need Funds To Take Action, Kompolnas Supports Owl Troops Seizing Charity Boxes

Densus 88 confiscate charity boxes in Lampung (ANTARA/HO)

JAKARTA - Daily Chief of the National Police Commission (Kompolnas) Inspector General Pol (Ret.) Benny Mamoto confirmed that the seizure of a charity box belonging to the terrorist group Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) in Lampung was supported by strong and accountable evidence.

"When the Densus confiscated the charity box, it must have been supported by strong evidence and must be accounted for in court," said Benny, Tuesday, November 9.

The former investigator from the Special Detachment 88 Anti-terror Team of the National Police said that if you want to paralyze a terrorist organization, one of the ways is to turn off the source of the funds.

Regarding the source of terrorist funding, Benny explained that Para Wijayanto, the leader of the JI terrorist network, has the ability to manage the organization very professionally because his background is a businessman.

Benny revealed that Wijayanto's learning background has worked in five companies and most recently as HRD for a large company in Central Java. He graduated from the engineering faculty of a state university in Central Java.

"He (Wijayanto, ed.) once learned how to make weapons in the Southern Philippines. I learned that the strategy he made was very good and followed developments in the community," said Benny.

According to Benny, prior to the leadership of Para Wijayanto, the JI organization was led by a leader with a religious education background so that fundraising was very limited, such as donations from infaq, alms, and the results of fa'i (bank robberies and so on), or donations from Al Qaeda.

The Wijayanto, continued Benny, have compiled a core strategy book "Tamkin" which includes how to build networks and raise funds. One way to raise funds is through a charity box that is disguised so that people don't know who is behind the charity box.

"They even have a legal business as a source of funds to manage the organization, including sending hundreds of its members to Syria," said Benny as quoted by Antara.

This funding, said Benny, is very important for terrorist organizations. Funding is like blood to the human body.

For this reason, Benny emphasized that the public must learn about the development of terrorist networks that are increasingly advanced and sophisticated so that information is not left behind, both how terrorists communicate with the latest technology and how terrorists seek financial support.

"Therefore, let us learn about the development of terrorist networks that are increasingly advanced and sophisticated," said Benny.

Previously, the National Police's Anti-terror Detachment 88, bearing the owl symbol, arrested eight people suspected of being involved in the terrorist network of the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) group in Lampung in the period from late October to early November 2021.

Police also confiscated 791 and 500 charity boxes while arresting several suspected terrorists in Lampung last week.

However, the arrests and seizures were criticized by several community groups, including politicians.

Member of the House of Representatives of the Republic of Indonesia Fadli Zon via his personal Twitter account, Saturday (6/11), uploaded a tweet, "Densus 88 versus the Charity Box. Acute Islamophobia".