"IF was officially named a suspect yesterday," Senior Commissioner Boy Rafli Amar, a spokesman of the National Police Headquarters, said here Saturday.
The plotters had invited IF and another media worker to cover the bombing attack they would carry out on Friday morning near Christ Cathedral at Gading Serpong, Banten, when members of the church would gather for Easter service , he said.
"IF agreed to meet the invitation but, as it turned out, the bombing attack did not materialize because the police detected the plot and found the bombs," Boy said.
The police had so far arrested a total of 20 suspects, including IF, at different places , he said.
Three suspects identified by their initials as P, J and F, were caught in Aceh; P, A, A, E, and R were nabbed in Bogor, F, D, and Y in Kramat Jati, M in Rawamangun, A, D, M, R and A in Pondok Kopi, A in Bekasi, and one person identified by his initial as J in Tangerang, Boy said.
Last Thursday (April 21), security authorities found a powerful time bomb hidden under a gas pipeline of state gas company PGN at Cihuni village, Serpong in Tangerang district.
The spot where the bomb was found was only 100 meters from the Christ Cathedral at Serpong, Banten Province.
National Police spokesman Inspector General Anton Bachrul Alam on Thursday (April 21) stated the bombs in Serpong were supposed to be set off by terrorists on Friday (April 22) at 9 am on the occasion of a mass ahead of Easter at 10 am.
"The bombs had been planted to cause major damage," he said adding that the bombs were deactivated by a police bomb squad in time.
Meanwhile, Ansyaad Mbai, head of the National Agency for Tackling Terrorism (BNPT), said efforts to stop bomb attacks were being intensified after authorities found evidence that the terrorists who had sent package bombs were also planning more attacks, including on religious buildings. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
