Ezra Sihite – Lawmakers on Wednesday called upon police to be extra vigilant in some districts in West Java, a province with increased incidents of religious violence, after residents attacked a sect leader in Sukabumi over the weekend.

Eva Kusuma Sundari, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), said that data from government and civil society groups have shown that the province topped other regions in religious-related violence.

"Police should prioritize monitoring districts in West Java because in the last several years, the province has the most violence conducted by radical groups there," she said.

On Sunday, angry Sukabumi residents who suspected the sect's involvement in the disappearance of cleric Ustadz Edin destroyed homes belonging to Sumarna, the head of Sukabumi's branch of Toriqoh Atijani, and his followers. Police later arrested Sumarna after they found a body buried in the backyard of the sect leader's home.

Police are waiting for test results to determine the identity of the body. "We suspect that it is Ustadz Edin's body," West Java Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Martinus Sitompul said on Tuesday. "However, we still have to perform a DNA test. We arrested Sumarna and his followers. For now, we are accusing them of killing the cleric."

The violence at the Toriqoh Atijani complex occurred when about 1,000 residents gathered while looking for Sumarna on Sunday. They were unaware that police had arrested Sumarna, and the gathering turned violent.

"The PDI-P is concerned that many people are very easily persuaded to commit violence and kill others. We demand the government to take action against those groups that take the law in their own hands," Eva said.

The Indonesian Council of Ulema said that the Toriqoh Atijani sect itself is not heretical, pointing the finger at Sumarna. "Toriqoh Atijani is an order that complies with true Islamic teachings," council member Zezen Zainal Abidin said on Wednesday.