The Jakarta Post, March 27, 2007
Terror raids continue with new arrest
Indra Harsaputra, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya
An anti-terror Detachment 88 police squad arrested Monday a man suspected of links
to regional terror network Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) and confiscated an explosive cache
from his house in the East Java capital of Surabaya.
The suspect was identified as Ahmad Sachrul Uman, alias Khoirul, 24, who lived at a
house on Jl. Simogunung Barujaya III in Surabaya. He did not resist arrest and said
he sold motorcycle helmets for a living.
"Correct, we captured Khoirul, who is believed to be a member of a terrorist group led
by Afghan-trained militant Abu Dujana, at his house at 9 a.m.," Surabaya police chief
Adj. Sr. Comr. Heri Dahana said.
Abu Dujana is the second-most wanted man in Indonesia after Noordin M. Top and
part of a new organization within JI.
Hari said Maulana Yusuf Wibisono, alias Kholis, 48, one of seven men detained by
the police last week, tipped security officers off to the whereabouts of Khoirul. Kholis
was arrested Wednesday for his alleged involvement in JI.
"The police confiscated 12.5 kilograms of explosive substances (including) TNT from
Khoirul's home and a number of documents," he said. "Several armed bombs were
also seized."
Police are still pursuing Abu Dujana, who is believed to have escaped a raid in
Sleman, Yogyakarta, last Tuesday.
Tuesday's raid resulted in the arrests of five suspected terrorists. One suspect, M.
Aman Suryanto, was shot in the stomach while trying to escape and died on the way
to hospital. Another, Edi, was shot and wounded.
The squad had also arrested another suspected terrorist, Kholis, in Central Java on
Wednesday.
His house in Morokrembangan in Surabaya, where he lives with his parents-in-law,
55-year-old Mustakim and 54-year-old Sarni, his wife, Choiroh, 35, and his four
children, was raided on Saturday.
Police said the found no evidence of his involvement in terrorist activities.
The neighbors of both Khoirul and Kholis were surprised by the arrests of the two
men, who were described as religious people who did not behave in a suspicious
manner.
Khoirul's neighbors said he had lived in a small house, while people who lived near
Kholis said he ran a telecommunications retail booth and an electronic service
counter and had once worked selling bakso. He lectured at the Al-Mustakim Koran
Education Center in a nearby residential area and was also a cleric at a local
mosque.
Munasir, 70, head of the local neighborhood community unit, said many people did
not believe Kholis was involved in the terrorism network.
"I myself hope he does not belong to the terrorism network because if he is arrested,
who will run the Koran education center and the mosque?" he asked.
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