We are seeking information whether they were to carry out a suicide bombing or plant the bomb somewhere else."Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian police has no information yet to confirm that the four suspected terrorists arrested in Purwakarta, West Java, planned to carry out a suicide bombing.
"We cannot confirm it yet, because the explosives were not with them. We are questioning them to get the thread on their plan to carry out the terror attack," Senior Commissioner Martinus Sitompul, a spokesman of the Indonesian Police, said here on Tuesday.
However, Martinus said, the police believed that two of the suspects planned to attack police officers.
"Two others were to monitor. We are seeking information whether they were to carry out a suicide bombing or plant the bomb somewhere else," he added.
The four suspects were linked to the Cigondewah terrorist group in Bandung, West Java, that was raided in 2013.
"People like Abu Fais, Abu Sofi, Rijal, and Ivan (the four suspected terrorists arrested in Purwakarta) were part of the Cigondewah group. These people were prepared to carry out suicide bombings. We still have five days, so we cannot share further information on the investigation," Martinus said.
Earlier, on Monday, a spokesman of the Indonesian Police Brigadier General Rikwanto said the police did not find any explosives in the hideout of the suspected terrorists arrested by the police counterterrorism squad in Purwakarta.
"We have yet to find the bomb. But finding of a scale could indicate (possible use of bomb). Possibly the bomb would be sent to them, from where, we are still learning these possibilities," Rikwanto said.
The police raided a house rented by the four suspects in Bandung before they moved to Purwakarta.
"We found some equipment such as nails and a scale in the house. But we did not find the bomb," he said.
The police also found cellular phone, lots of sim cards, flash drives, religious books, handwritten notes, and a modem.
On Sunday, two suspected terrorists were arrested and two others who resisted the arrest were shot dead by polices counterterrorism squad Densus 88 in Jatiluhur, Purwakarta.
"At around 9 a.m, police arrested two suspected terrorists, Ivan and Rijal, in Jalan Ubrug in Cibinong, Jatiluhur subdistrict, Purwakarta District," Chief of Public Information Bureau of the National Police Brig. Rikwanto said in a short message.
According to Rikwanto, after arresting the two, Densus 88 personnel then hunted two other friends of Ivan and Rijal in the Jatiluhur region. At around 12 pm, the team raided a floating house in the Jatiluhur Lake. When they tried to nab them, the two suspected terrorists, named Abu Sofi and Abu Fais, resisted the arrest. "There was resistance from the two and after a gun battle, both of them died," said the senior officer.
(Reported by Benardy Ferdiansyah/Uu.S022/INE//KR-BSR/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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