Ezra Sihite – Despite mounting criticism against the National Police's counterterrorism unit, Densus 88, calls to disband the body are excessive and unnecessary, a minister said on Tuesday.

"The police are now investigating the case, but demanding that Densus 88 be dissolved is too much," Djoko Suyanto, the coordinating minister for political, legal and security affairs, said in reference to a video that allegedly shows members of Densus 88 brutally torturing suspected terrorists.

The Indonesian Council of Ulema (MUI), the country's highest Islamic authority, recently urged police to disband the unit and employ a different approach to fighting terrorism in the archipelago.

Djoko noted that the video was not a strong enough reason to completely get rid of Densus 88, especially since Timur Pradopo, the head of the National Police, promised to investigate the case and question police officers allegedly involved in the torture.

"The National Police are still evaluating the case to find out if the people in the video were indeed members of Densus 88 or from another unit," he said.

The footage caught on the tape shows alleged members of Densus 88 tying up, shooting, trampling and verbally insulting a terrorist suspect.

An official with the Muslim Mass Organization and Institution Forum, Mustofa Nahrawardaya, said several Muslim leaders received four copies of the video and showed them to Timur on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the investigation of an alleged act of violence conducted by 18 of Central Sulawesi Police chief Dewa's officers is still ongoing. Eighteen police officers faced disciplinary sessions following torture in December 2012 during an arrest by the National Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) and Poso District Police officers of 14 people from Kalora Village in Poso.