Investigation on Tampubolon's murder continues<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Despite dissatisfaction from the victim's
\nrelatives, police said they have yet to complete their
\ninvestigation into the controversial murder of army Brig. Gen.
\nTMF Tampubolon, allegedly by four teenaged males.<\/p>\n
"The police's recently-released theory was a preliminary
\nfinding. The full investigation has not yet been completed and is
\nstill going on at this time," City Police spokesman Lt. Col. A.
\nLatief Rabar told reporters on Saturday.<\/p>\n
But Latief said he remained optimistic that, based on
\npreliminary findings, police would be able to conclude the
\ninvestigation and hand over dossiers of the case to the public
\nprosecutor's office in the next 20 days as required by law.<\/p>\n
"If the prosecutor's office finds contradictory information in
\nthe dossiers completed by the police, we'd be allowed by law to
\nextend the period of our investigation," the spokesman said.<\/p>\n
Relatives of the 54-year-old Tampubolon, who was stabbed 11
\ntimes by both bayonet and machete last Monday evening, expressed
\ntheir dissatisfaction with the initial police findings announced
\nby City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto two days after
\nthe incident took place.<\/p>\n
"We were unable to accept their version and hope that the
\npolice will work harder to find a logical explanation to the
\nkilling, particularly regarding the telephone call," said one of
\nhis relatives, who asked not to be named.<\/p>\n
In a separated occasion over the weekend, Armed Forces (ABRI)
\nCommander Gen. Feisal Tanjung insisted once again that the
\nkilling of Tampubolon, an expert on economic affairs and advisor
\nto the ABRI Chief, "is a criminal act, pure and simple."<\/p>\n
The victim was a former deputy intelligence assistant to
\nABRI's chief of general affairs. He formerly served as group
\ncommander for one of ABRI's four elite red beret Kopassus squads
\nand also played a significant role in mediating the dispute at
\nthe Toba Batak Christian Church in Sumatra.<\/p>\n
Hindarto's version<\/p>\n
According to Hindarto's theory, Tampubolon was driving his
\nofficial Mitsubishi sedan alone on Monday and later was stabbed
\nby two of the four suspects after a heated argument on Jl. Griya
\nWartawan in Cipinang Muara, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The four had just left a pool hall and bumped into the
\ngeneral's passing sedan, the City Police chief told reporters on
\nWednesday.<\/p>\n
"When the general got out of his car to question the group,
\nthe four responded in a hostile manner which then escalated into
\na heated argument and ultimately the killing," Hindarto
\nexplained, claiming that all other versions were untrue.<\/p>\n
Police arrested the four suspects six-and-a-half hours after
\nthe incident, which took place in front of a small Warteg
\ntraditional food stall on the narrow Jl. Griya Wartawan, next to
\na Chinese cemetery.<\/p>\n
Local residents told The Jakarta Post that the area is
\ndownright dangerous during the evening hours, particularly when a
\nnumber of drunken young people decide to frequent the area.<\/p>\n
The pool hall is located less than 100 meters from the Warteg,
\nwhich is a further 600 meters from the Kebon Nanas police
\nsubprecicnt, which is where the gravely wounded Tampubolon
\nreported the stabbing.<\/p>\n
His house on Jl. Cakra Wijaya at the Armed Forces' Diskum AD
\nhousing complex is less than a 10-minute drive from the Warteg.<\/p>\n
So far, police have no clue as to what the general was doing
\nin the area that evening.<\/p>\n
However, there are strong indications that the general left
\nhis house in a hurry after receiving a mysterious call on his
\nportable handphone.<\/p>\n
"He left the house about 10 minutes before the incident
\noccurred and we still don't know the identity of the caller.
\nMoreover, the number of his handphone was only known to a select
\nfew," his relative said.<\/p>\n
On Thursday afternoon and evening, the police conducted a pre-
\nreconstruction at the Warteg, the Kebon Nanas police subprecinct
\nand the billiards center, all of which were closed to reporters.<\/p>\n
When asked about a number of traffic wardens who were reported
\nas missing near the scene of the killing, Latief replied
\nstrongly: "Please never ever connect any issues with the killing
\nof Tampubolon."<\/p>\n
In another related development, the city police and military
\nmembers have begun a massive operation against machetes and other
\nweapons, as well as alcoholic drinks sold at unlicensed stalls
\nthroughout the city, since Tampubolon's murder.<\/p>\n
The police squad, for instance, has seized over 60,000 bottles
\nof alcoholic beverages under different brand names in an
\noperation involving 70 police personnel..<\/p>\n
"We all know that the killing of the general was carried out
\nby a group of young men who had consumed alcoholic beverages,"
\nhead of the on-the-alert police squad, Col. Heniyoso G., said
\nSaturday. (bsr)<\/p>",
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