Police: Merauke Terrorists Linked To Villa Mutiara Makassar Group

Karo Penmas, Police Public Relations Division, Brigadier General Rusdi Hartono (ANTARA DOK)

JAKARTA - Karo Penmas, Police Public Relations Division, Brigadier General Rusdi Hartono, said the suspected terrorist arrested in Merauke was related to the Villa Mutiara Makassar study group.

"Yes, once again there is contact between them, because indeed the case in Merauke was the result of a development from Makassar. So Makassar, Balikpapan and Merauke are interrelated," he said, at a press conference at the National Police Headquarters quoted by Antara, Monday, 7 June.

As many as 13 suspected terrorists were arrested in Merauke, they were members of the Jamaah Ansharut Daulah (JAD) group who pledged allegiance to ISIS.

According to him, JAD Merauke and Villa Mutiara Makassar have both attended recitations and have met each other. "Yes, they have met," he said.

In addition, the group is in contact with various existing communication platforms such as WhatsApp groups. "Yes, it's not only that (the WA group) that they can already know each other, people in Merauke," he said.

Rusdi said that it was the intensified efforts to suppress and prevent terrorism carried out by the Anti-Terror Special Detachment Team (Densus) 88 which made the JAD terrorist group move to suburban areas such as Merauke.

"Automatically, when the law enforcement activity by the Densus is so high, of course they will try to get out of that activity, eventually some of them leave Makassar to Merauke, because of what? Because of the high law enforcement activities carried out by the Densus against Indonesian terrorist groups," he said.

The 10 suspected terrorists were arrested by the Special Detachment 88 Anti-Terror Team of the Indonesian Police in Merauke, Papua on Friday (28/5).

There were also 10 terrorists who were arrested, namely AK, SB, ZR, UAT, DS, SD, WS, YK, AP and IK, of the 10 there were couples, namely AP and IK (women).

The arrests continued on Sunday (30/5), the Indonesian Police Anti-terror Detachment 88 Team arrested another member of the Ansharut Daulah terrorist network in Merauke. Apart from Merauke, the police also arrested one suspected terrorist in the Balikpapan area, East Kalimantan.

As of today, the total number of suspected terrorists detained in Merauke has increased to 13 people.

The suspected terrorists in Merauke are certainly not native Papuans, but people from outside Merauke who have lived in Papua for a long time.

They allegedly received exposure to radical ideas while in Merauke, Papua. The Merauke JAD group also planned terrorist acts at the church in Merauke, the Merauke Police Station and the Merauke Traffic Traffic Unit.