"Five were arrested in East Java, with a gun being confiscated. Arrests were also made in Central Java. They are all linked to (the bombing incidents in) Surabaya. Thus, until today, 104 in addition to six others, or 110 people, were arrested," Indonesian Police Chief General Tito Karnavian noted after exchanging Eid greetings with President Joko Widodo here on Friday.
The Police`s anti-terror squad Densus 88 arrested six terror suspects in Blitar and Tlungagung, East Java, on Wednesday and Thursday.
"All the 110 suspects are linked. I would not as yet disclose anything about it. We will do it later," Karnavian remarked.
He said five of the six people arrested in East Java were believed to have attacked a police precinct in Talun and a bank in Blitar.
"We continue to work while the people are enjoying a holiday. It is also the peak of our security operations. Ensuring security is our religious service, he emphasized.
Karnavian stated that the police had found notes during a search conducted at three locations and several items, including a gun, with eight bullets, and books on " jihad," or the holy war, and radicalism were retrieved as evidence.
The police had earlier arrested Syamsul Arifin from Jatinom Village, Blitar. Arifin is the East Java chief of Jamaah Ansharut Daulah.
Arifin, also known as Abu Umar, alias AU, was arrested in early May 2018 in connection with the bombings in Surabaya.
A series of suicide bombings committed by three families in Surabaya and Sidoarjo killed 13 perpetrators and 14 civilians as well as injured 42 others on May 13-14.
Reporter: Desca Lidya Natalia
Editor: Yosep Hariyadi
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
