Just like in 2019, terrorism is still one of the potential threats that could disrupt elections in 2024, Head of the police’s Public Relations Division Inspector General Dedi Prasetyo said.
“The police is cooperating with other institutions to ensure that all phases of the general election will be safe, smooth, and democratic,” Prasetyo said on the sidelines of the police’s internal discussion on facing the upcoming political year, here on Thursday.
To address potential threats, the police’s Anti-Terror Special Detachment 88 (Densus 88) is ready to engage in preventive strikes, he affirmed.
“We must not let all phases of the elections prepared by the KPU (General Elections Commission) be disrupted (by terrorism),” Prasetyo said.
In the first month of 2023, the Densus 88 has taken preventive actions by raiding and arresting suspected terrorists in several cities to maintain security and order.
On January 20, 2023, the special forces arrested three suspected terrorists in North Jakarta and Tangerang, Banten. The three suspects reportedly belonged to different terrorist groups.
One suspect, identified by his initials as AS, was arrested in North Jakarta for his involvement with the Islamic State of Indonesia (NII).
Meanwhile, two suspects, identified as ARH and SN, were arrested in South Jakarta and South Tangerang cities, respectively.
ARH and SN, who reportedly belonged to an organization outlawed by the government, were wanted by law enforcers since March 2021.
The Densus 88 also arrested one terror suspect, identified as AW, in Sleman, Yogyakarta, on January 22. The suspect was affiliated with the transnational terror organization ISIS.
During the operation, the special forces confiscated two improvised explosives that the suspect planned to use in a terror attack.
The suspect, a recidivist in drug-related cases who was freed from prison in 2020, confessed that he had sworn loyalty to ISIS under the guidance of his cellmate.
Responding to the Densus 88 raids, Prasetyo affirmed that the investigation into the recently arrested terror suspects would continue.
“It is correct; the Densus informed me that (AW) is a drug inmate who was exposed (to radicalism) in prison. He was then arrested by Densus 88. The case is currently under investigation,” the inspector general said.
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