Tholut accused of plotting high-profile assassinations
Indonesian police arrested one of the country’s most-wanted Islamic militants on Friday, accusing him of plotting high-profile assassinations and bloody attacks on foreigners at luxury hotels in the capital.
Tholut was detained at his home in Kudus, Central Java province, Iskandar Hasan, a national police spokesman said by telephone. Indonesias anti-terrorism squad, known as Detachment 88, led the raid and found a gun and ammunition at the residence, he said.
Villagers informed us about Tholuts location, Hasan said. He didnt put up any resistance.
Tholut may have been involved in setting up camps in Aceh province and robbing a bank in Medan, North Sumatra, Hasan said. His arrest follows a February raid on a training camp in Aceh and the armed robbery of PT CIMB Bank Niagas branch office in Medan in August.
Indonesia has fought an ongoing battle against suspected terrorists that intensified after the 2002 bomb attacks at a nightclub in Bali that killed 202 people. More recently the government has stepped up raids following the July 2009 bombings of Jakartas JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton hotels, which killed nine people, including two attackers.
Police killed terrorist leader and suspected Bali bomber Dulmatin, a member of the Jemaah Islamiyah group, and two others during a raid near the capital in March. Tholut is a former member of the Jemaah Islamiyah group, the Jakarta Post reported today.