Yuliasri Perdani, Jakarta – The National Police's Densus 88 counterterrorism unit arrested Nu'aim Ba'asyir, nephew of firebrand cleric Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, for allegedly supplying weapons to terrorists.
National Police spokesperson Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said on Wednesday that Nu'aim was arrested for his role in procuring weapons for Abu Roban and William Maksum groups; two terror networks rounded up by the counterterrorism unit earlier this month.
Densus 88 arrested Nu'aim in front of the Al Quran Ibadurrahman Islamic boarding school in Joyontakan, Surakarta, Central Java, on Tuesday evening.
However, a member of Jamaah Ansharut Tauhid (JAT), an Islamic organization led by Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, said that members of Densus 88 squad arrested Nu'aim inside his home.
"He was with his nine-year-old daughter when Densus 88 raided the house. His daughter saw a squad member toting firearms. This traumatized her," JAT spokesman Sonhadi told The Jakarta Post.
Sonhadi confirmed that Nu'aim was Abu Bakar's nephew and a former JAT member. "He joined JAT in 2008. He resigned about two years ago because he wanted to focus on his business," he said.
Sonhadi also denied that Nu'aim left JAT due to ideological differences. According to Sonhadi, Nu'aim had been a tutor for undergraduate students completing their final papers.
Boy said that the police moved to arrest Nu'aim after getting information from terror suspect Maksum, who was arrested in Bandung, West Java, last week. Maksum, who worked under direction from Abu Roban, masterminded a number of robberies around West Java.
Abu Roban robbed a jewelry store in Tambora, West Jakarta and four bank offices in Lampung, Bandung, Grobogan and Batang of Central Java, before being shot dead by Densus 88 members last week.
In the past two weeks, Densus 88 killed seven terror suspects and arrested 23 others in a series of raids. All of them accomplices of Abu Roban.
Abu Roban allegedly wired the money collected from the robberies to finance terror acts led by Santoso, who is still at large.
Police claim that Santoso is responsible for a series of terror attacks in Poso in the last few years. Santoso himself is a former member of a terror group led by Basri, the Jamaah Islamiyah (JI) group. Basri surrendered to police after a gunfight in 2007. It is alleged that Santoso once joined JAT, which was formed by Abu Bakar Ba'asyir.
Ba'asyir is currently serving a 9-year jail term in Nusa Kambangan Penitentiary in Central Java. In 2011, he was found guilty of planning and persuading people to support a military-style training facility in Jantho Mountain in Aceh.
National Police chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said Densus 88 officers had used deadly force to subdue the terrorists, who he described as armed and dangerous to the police and the public.
"Our priority is to keep our personnel, the suspects and the general public safe," Timur told reporters. The police chief said that the use of deadly force by Densus 88 had been done according to standard operating procedures.