Jakarta – Three Indonesian army officers have been detained as suspects in the murder of Papuan separatist leader Theys Hiyo Eluay, the military police chief said Tuesday.

"Three officers of the Indonesian armed forces, all of whom are members of the Tribuana Task Force, have been detained in connection with the death of Theys Eluay," Major General A.B. Sulaiman told AFP.

The task force, most of whose members are from the army special forces Kopassus, is based in Jayapura, the provincial capital of Papua.

Sulaiman declined to give the identities or the army unit of the three but said they had been detained at national military police headquarters in Jakarta since last Wednesday.

The armed forces said in a statement the detentions were based on the result of questioning of about 100 witnesses and evidence confiscated by the military police.

"The preliminary conclusion shows that three rogue TNI [armed forces] officers must undergo legal questioning process as suspects and they have been detained by military police investigators," the statement said.

A team from the military police had launched its own investigation into Eluay's murder.

Eluay was found dead on November 11. He had been abducted the previous evening by an unidentified group as he drove home from a celebration hosted by the Tribuana Kopassus unit in Jayapura.

Media reports said the three detainees are a major, a captain and a low-ranking soldier.