BEKASI – Andre (28), a resident in a village in Setiadarma Village, South Tambun, Bekasi Regency, claimed to not know well two people who were arrested by Densus 88 Antiteror on Friday (27/10/2023). However, the two suspects do live not far from his house.
“Yes, neighbors a few houses away,” said Andre when met by reporters on Friday night (27/10/2023).
Andre, who works as a cilok seller, said he never personally knew the two suspected terrorists. However, both of them had bought his merchandise together with their wives several times. “They have bought a few times,” he said.
Andre said that both of them were not regular customers who always bought cilok. They bought when they felt like eating cilok. “They are not regular customers, they buy when they feel like it,” he said.
Although he did not know the names of the two individuals who were arrested by Densus, Andre knew what kind of clothes they wore on a daily basis. Both of them always wore gamis clothing.
Andre confirmed that the arrest of the suspected terrorists was the first to happen in his area. He hoped that his village would remain safe after the arrest of the suspected terrorists. “We want everything to be safe,” he said.
According to the Chairman of RT04 RW02 Setiajaya Village, Hamlet 1, Setiadarma Village, South Tambun, Bekasi Regency, Parnoto, the two residents of Setiadarma were arrested by Densus in different locations. The first arrest of a suspected terrorist, a man in his 40s, was made in a rented house in RT04 RW02 Setiajaya Village, Hamlet 1, Setiadarma Village, South Tambun, Bekasi Regency.
The second arrest was made in Hamlet 3, RT04 RW02 Darmajaya Village, Setiadarma Village, South Tambun. The distance between the rental houses of the two terrorist suspects is about 30 meters.
Parnoto explained that before the arrest, he was visited by local Binmaspol members who then took him to the rented house of the suspected terrorist. At that time, Parnoto was not informed about Densus’s purpose and intention in the rented house.
“I was visited by Binmaspol, they said ‘let’s go, there will be an arrest’, not long after that we went straight there, then they said the men who were there were from Densus, but they did not provide any information about who was arrested and what the case was about,” he said.
When they arrived at the location, Parnoto was asked to knock on the door of the rented house of the suspect. When the door was opened, Densus immediately arrested the suspected terrorist without resistance. “I knocked on the door, after the door was opened, Densus mentioned a name, then they immediately arrested him, the name he mentioned was not clear. There was no resistance during the arrest,” he said.
Apart from Parnoto, the Chairman of RW02 Darmajaya Village, Abdul Basit Bastian, also conveyed the process of arresting his residents who lived in a rented house at RT04 RW02 Darmajaya Village, Hamlet 3, Setiadarma Village, South Tambun at the same time.
Abdul Basit said that in this rented house, a man in his 30s was arrested by Densus 88. “One person was arrested in the rented house, when he was arrested, his child and wife were there, but only the husband was taken,” said Abdul Basit Bastian.
So far, Basit admitted that he did not know the name of the suspected terrorist who was arrested by the Densus team. However, when the arrest was about to take place, he heard the officer mention the name of the suspect.
“So I knocked on the door of the rented house, after the door was opened, there was a question ‘are you Muklas?’ Then he was immediately arrested, his eyes were covered, that’s what I know, the arresting officers were wearing civilian clothes,” he said.
In addition to arresting the two suspects, Basit explained that the Densus team also seized 13 items to be used as evidence. Most of the evidence seized were books. “They brought books, like instructional books or something, I don’t understand, there were 13 items brought, mostly books,” he said.
