JAKARTA — Five Indonesian men suspected of plotting a terror attack on Singapore from Batam were flown to Jakarta for further investigations as police confiscated weapons from their houses, the Indonesian media reported on Wednesday (Aug 10).

The terror suspects, who were arrested last week over an alleged plot to fire a rocket at Marina Bay from Indonesia’s Batam island, were escorted by 15 police officers and boarded a commercial flight at Batam’s Hang Nadim International Airport on Wednesday morning, reported Batam Pos.

Wearing plainclothes, the suspects — Gigih Rahmat Dewa, Trio Syafrido, Eka Saputra, Tarmidzi and Hadi Gusti Yanda — and the police officers were on the flight with civilian passengers.

Mr Agus Purwanto, a lawyer representing Gigih, said the police informed him that further investigations into the five would continue in Jakarta. “We were told about this by the police last night (Monday night),” he was quoted as saying by Batam News.

A total of six men were arrested on suspicion of being involved in the alleged Marina Bay rocket plot. The arrests came amid mounting concern about the spread of Islamist ideology in Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim-majority nation.

It was the latest terror plot in Indonesia, where there has been a surge in attacks and attempted attacks this year due to the growing influence of Islamic State (IS).

However, the police released one of the suspects over the weekend after concluding he was not involved in the plot. The suspects were part of a group called KGR@Katibah GR that has “dozens of members” and has been active for two years, according to the Indonesian police.

The police have also linked the group’s alleged ringleader, Gigih, to IS militant Bahrun Naim, who has encouraged attacks on Singapore. The police said the men are believed to have been in direct contact with Bahrun via Facebook.

Details of the alleged rocket plot, however, remain sketchy. It is also unclear what sort of rocket the group had planned to use.

Singapore’s Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said on Wednesday although no rockets were found when the suspects were arrested, the “intent was there”.

“We have had attacks in Malaysia and Indonesia. Just last week, six persons were arrested in Batam. They were plotting to fire rockets into Singapore. When arrested, they had no rockets, and it was not clear they could have gotten rockets. But the intent was there. Firearms were seized from them,” he said at an international meeting on counter-terrorism in Bali.

A number of weapons, including a bow and arrow and an air rifle, were taken by the Indonesian authorities from the suspects’ homes on Tuesday, national police spokesman Boy Rafli Amar told the local media.

Police also found several bank books, 2.5 million rupiah (S$256), a camera, a notebook and personal documents. The bank books were from Mandiri Bank, Syariah Mandiri Bank and Mualamat Bank.

A modified airsoft gun resembling an AK-47 assault rifle was found in the attic of the home of suspect Eka Saputra, Batam Pos reported.

Police seized an air rifle, an airsoft gun, a CPU unit and a notebook from Trio Syafrido’s house.

Mr Boy said the CPU unit and notebook have been handed to the police cybercrime unit for forensic inspection.

“The inspection will focus on (electronic) conversations that they had with their groups,” he said.

He believes the suspects are still hiding evidence related to terrorism elsewhere in Batam, which is 15km south of Singapore.

Indonesia has long struggled with Islamic militancy and has suffered a string of attacks in the past 15 years, including the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people.

A crackdown had weakened the most dangerous networks, but IS has proved a potent new rallying cry for the country’s radicals, and hundreds of Indonesians have headed to the Middle East to join the jihadists.

In January, IS-linked militants launched a deadly gun and bomb attack in Jakarta that left four attackers and four civilians dead. AGENCIES