Eight grilled over Bandung explosions<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung<\/p>\n
A top police officer in West Java calmed public fears on Thursday
\nthat the two separate explosions that rocked Bandung a day
\nearlier were caused by high explosives.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, eight people have been questioned over the
\nincident.<\/p>\n
Quoting a report from the police forensic team, West Java
\nPolice chief Insp. Gen. Edi Darnadi said that the two separate
\nexplosions had been caused by hand-detonated, low-explosive
\ndevices.<\/p>\n
\"The police forensic team has not discovered chemical
\nsubstances normally found in high-explosive bombs,\" Edi said in
\nBandung.<\/p>\n
The forensic team has already discovered four small batteries,
\nfour lengths of cable and green aluminum foil.<\/p>\n
The explosions took place on Wednesday morning on the sidewalk
\nof Jl. Braga and the third floor of the Eterna Building in
\nBanceuy trading center -- the two locations only about 100 meters
\napart. No fatalities were reported in the incidents.<\/p>\n
The explosions came as a shock as they occurred in the city's
\ndowntown area, and at the height of the West Java police hunt for
\ninternational terror suspects Dr. Azahari and Noordin Mohd Top.<\/p>\n
Initial reports on the explosions also scared investors at the
\nJakarta Stock Exchange, who quickly put transactions on hold,
\nfearing that the explosions could be a precursor to more violent
\nattacks.<\/p>\n
The two-star general, however, ruled out the possibility that
\nthe explosions were the work of professional terrorists, saying
\nthe detonators used were \"simple\".<\/p>\n
Edi also said that the motives for the incident were still
\nunknown, although the explosions targeted two places that had
\nallegedly been used as gambling dens.<\/p>\n
Edi said that the two were not gambling dens, but merely
\n\"ordinary amusement places\". He also refuted allegations that
\nthere was a connection between the explosions and protests
\nagainst gambling staged recently in Bandung, the capital of West
\nJava province.<\/p>\n
This was in contrast to an earlier statement made by National
\nPolice chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung.<\/p>\n
Soon after the explosions, the three-star general said they
\nwere acts of protest against gambling, as gambling dens appeared
\nintentionally to have been targeted.<\/p>\n
Bandung Police chief Sr. Comr. Hendra Sukmana said that the
\nexplosions did not cause any injury or damage to surrounding
\nbuildings. He said that his subordinates had questioned eight
\nwitnesses in the case, six of whom were in the parking lot of the
\nEterna Building, with the other two standing close to Jl. Braga
\nat the time of the explosions. The police are due to question
\nmore witnesses.<\/p>\n
A police forensic team was still seeking evidence on Thursday
\nat the two explosion sites. The investigations attracted motorist
\npassersby who slowed their vehicles down to look at what the
\npolice were doing there.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/eight-grilled-over-bandung-explosions-1447893297",
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