... three suspects from Alor are identified by their initials as ZU (40), ZK (40), and HI...
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian police's special anti-terror unit Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) has taken over the investigation of the case of three alleged terror suspects in East Nusa Tenggara.

These suspected members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) were arrested in Alor district, NTT, last week.

They were interrogated in the main police office of NTT, Samuel Kawengian of the NTT Police's General Crime Investigation Unit said here on Wednesday.

If the police find evidence of their connection to ISIS, they will be named as suspects, he added.

"They are being interrogated and have not been moved to Jakarta yet. They might be flown to Jakarta next week," he stated.

The three suspects from Alor are identified by their initials as ZU (40), ZK (40), and HI.

A seven-member team of Densus 88 has been grilling the suspects and checking proofs they seized from them, Kawengian pointed out.

"There are ISIS attributes in a laptop, as well as ISIS flags and paintings, and some devices to produce ISIS flags and logos," he revealed.

The Indonesian government has denounced any presence of ISIS in the country and has arrested local terror suspects who declared their support for the foreign group.

Following the trend of some Indonesians joining ISIS in Syria, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Tedjo Edhy Purdijatno urged immigration authorities to tighten checks on Indonesian citizens traveling to the Middle East, particularly Turkey.

"Check carefully the data of people who show any indication of moving there," Purdijatno had ordered on March 9.

He remarked that the National Police and the State Intelligence Board (BIN) had gathered information on Indonesian citizens likely to join ISIS.

"The data will be sent to the immigration authorities to prevent those citizens from traveling abroad," he affirmed.

Citing BINs observations, he noted that several local militant networks had been found to have links with international militant networks.

"Admittedly, these networks are particularly prominent in Bima and Poso," he stated.

Editor: Ade P Marboen
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