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Densus 88 arrest alleged FPI member over Tangerang cop killings

Source
Jakarta Globe - August 19, 2013

Farouk Arnaz – Anti-terrorism police arrested a member of the hard-line Islamic Defenders Front (FPI) on Sunday in connection with last week's fatal shooting of two police officers in Bintaro, Tangerang, as investigators continued their search for two gunmen reportedly behind the slayings, police said.

Iwan Priadi, a 44-year-old fish seller, was arrested by Densus 88 officers at his home in Kawalu, Tasikmalaya, West Java, on Sunday morning, a source in the anti-terrorism squad told the Jakarta Globe. He reportedly owned the Yamaha Mio motorcycle used in Friday's shootings, the source said.

Investigators are still trying to determine Iwan's connection to two men implicated in the shootings. Iwan was the seventh owner of the motorcycle, but not the most recent owner, the source said.

The motorcycle was used in the fatal drive-by shooting of First Adj. Koeshendratma on Friday night. The officer was heading to work when he was shot in the back in Bintaro, Tangerang, police said.

Passing police officers witnessed the shooting and gave chase. They hit the motorcycle, but then lost control and crashed the vehicle into a ditch. The gunmen then approached the disabled vehicle and fatally shot the driver, Chief Brig. Ahamd Maulana before stealing a security guard's motorbike and fleeing the scene.

Police released sketches of the gunmen and said they were likely linked to Abu Roban, the former leader of the Mujahidin Indonesia Barat terrorist network killed by Densus 88 in Kendal, Central Java. Abu recruited members from a radical religious study group based in Tangerang.

Iwan is reportedly an active member of the FPI in Kawalu subdistrict, his wife Dede Kurniasih told the Indonesian newspaper Tempo. Her husband was detained while he was sleeping by two men, who didn't have a warrant, she said.

"There was no warrant, they talked about a motorcycle, I did not understand," she said. Police also seized some of Iwan's books before leaving his home, Dede said.

Last Friday's shooting was the most recent in a string attacks targeting police officers in Tangerang. On August 7, Adj. Insp. Dwiyatna was fatally shot in Ciputat, Tangerang. Less than a month earlier, Second Adj. Insp. Fatah Saktiyono was critically injured in a similar shooting in Ciputat.

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