Aceh Police Raid and Shot Terror Suspect

Banda Aceh, TAG – The Aceh provincial police assisted by the national elite police unit Special Detachment 88, also known Densus 88, has raided a hideout of terror suspect and shot the suspect, a police spokesman said Sunday.

The police personnels raided a house in Limpok village of Aceh Besar district’s Darussalam sub-district on Saturday at 5 p.m. that believed has been used as terror herd hideouts which linked to homemade bombs prior to Aceh local elections,  Sr. Comr. Gustav Leo, the Aceh police spokesman, said.

According to Gustav, policemen drove to the scene after receiving information from locals about the existense of one of the six suspects that still fugitive hiding in a house in the village which located some 9 kilometers northeast of the provincial capital Banda Aceh.

“When the house raided by the joint team of Densus 88 and Aceh policemen, the suspect tried to escape by climbing the wall,” Gustav said in a text massage sent to The Aceh Globe.

“The officers fired warning shots twice, but the suspect still tried to run away, then the police directing fire on the hands and feet to paralyse the suspect.”

But other sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said the suspect shot on his chest.

Gustav added that the suspect namely Maimun JF, 45, pass away on the way to the Banda Aceh Bayangkhara police hospital because of “loss of blood”.

When the house raided, Gustav said there were two students inside. After questioning, both students believed no relating to the bomb terror, so they were released.

“The police are hunting down the remnants of Aceh terror suspects who still at large. It could be the numbers increase based on the development in the field," he said.

When asked which groups of the suspects came from, Gustav said the police didn’t see the group as the perpetrators in carrying out their action was more personal.

“So far we don’t see the group as it’s very difficult to prove on legal process but the police continue to work to uncover the violence and terror cases ahead of the elections,” he said.

He also mentioned that the police are still investigating cases of arson againsts cars belong to governors and districts’ chiefs campaigned candidates team that occurred in the previous days conducted by unknown. At least eight car has been burned in the last few weeks.

Aceh former Governor Irwandi Yusuf who running for the second term has urged the National Police Chief to disclose the identity of the group that doing terror and shooting in order to stop their movement. Aceh provincial police chief “tried to deliberate cover up” the cases, he said.

“It is feared that (if releaved) my group that became victims would retaliate,” Irwandi said who claimed he knew the group that terrorized by burning cars and shootings.

However Irwandi didn’t want to say any group. “We've already known who did it. We don’t want to retaliate,” he told journalists.

Aceh police backed by the Densus 88 arrested six men in a foiled a bombing attempt in Lhoong, Aceh Besar, and seized the five low-explosive bombs that were to be used in the attack on March 10. The suspects arrested in two separated places in Aceh Besar and north Aceh districts.

The six suspects has been transferred to the National Police Headquarter for futher investigation. They are Kamaruddin aka Mayor, Mansur aka Mancuk, Rizal Mustaqim, Jamaluddin aka Dugok, Muhammad Sulaiman aka Ulee Bara and Usria.

Three men –Dugok, Ulee Bara, and Usria— arrested in North Aceh believed to be former Free Aceh Movement (GAM) fighters. It’s known by confession from their families when reporting the arrest to Banda Aceh chapter of Legal Aid Institute (LBH)’s Lhokseumawe post.

The Aceh police chief Ins. Gen. Iskandar Hasan previously stated that the six suspects arrested believed to involve in a series of shooting in north Aceh, Bireuen and Aceh Besar districts in December 2011 and earlier January.

The oil and gas rich Aceh province that located on the northern tip of Sumatra island to hold local elections to choose governor, four mayors and 13 districts’ chief on April 9 after three times postponed. The lead-up to the Aceh polls has also been marred by a spate of shootings and fire-bombings that claimed nine lives since last December.

The long-awaited local polls had initially been to take place last November, then delayed and rescheduled twice on Desember 24 and February 16 but later got derailed when the Aceh Party threatened a boycott in response to national Constitutional Court ruling in 2010 allowing independent candidates to run on elections.[]