Police confirms, downplay assassinations<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Police confirmed on Monday the existence of many assassins for
\nhire in Indonesia on the heels of the cold-blooded murder of a
\nprominent businessman and his Army's Special Forces (Kopassus)
\nbodyguard at the Sasana Krida sports stadium in North Jakarta on
\nSaturday morning.<\/p>\n
National Police Detective chief Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng
\nsaid that although assassinations involving hitmen existed here,
\nthey were not organized and it was not a common occurrence.<\/p>\n
\"(The practice) is not exactly rife here. We have not
\ndiscovered any murder cases involving a hitman syndicate. If any,
\nit's just a matter of individual cases where someone hires an
\nassassin to execute someone they don't like,\" Erwin told
\nreporters at the National Police Directorate of Air and Sea
\nOperation Headquarters in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara reiterated
\nErwin's statement, referring to the homicide case in Sunter,
\nNorth Jakarta, where a Chinese-Indonesian couple, identified as A
\nSun and Melly, were killed after an alleged assassin doused them
\nwith acid on April 30.<\/p>\n
Police have arrested some suspects and the alleged mastermind
\nof the assassination. The case also implicated seven Indonesian
\nNavy personnel who were hired as suspected hitmen. The motive was
\nreportedly some type of personal vengeance by businessman Erwin
\nMulia, 40, who hired the hitmen to bump off A Sun.<\/p>\n
Makbul also commented on the recent murder of PT Asaba
\ncomputer firm president director Boedyharto Angsono, 55, and his
\nbodyguard First Sgt. Edy Siyet, 33. Edy was shot once in the head
\nwhile Boedyharto was shot six times in the head and back. During
\nthe apparent contract killing, Boedyharto's driver Darjan
\nsurvived as he remained inside the bullet-proof Mercedes Benz.<\/p>\n
The tragedy was the 13th of its kind in Jakarta since January.<\/p>\n
A police source explained that the hitmen had to be well-
\ntrained in using firearms and carefully planning the
\nassassinations as they were able to instantly paralyze Edy who
\nhimself, as an elite Kopassus soldier, would have been very adept
\nat defending his client.<\/p>\n
\"They must have been smarter and more skillful than the best
\nin our military (Kopassus),\" the source said.<\/p>\n
Makbul said that the police were still working on the case to
\nfind the perpetrator, and if he truly was a gun for hire, they
\nwould pursue the person who hired him.<\/p>\n
There have been strong allegation made earlier by Boedyharto's
\nrelatives, who pointed to Boedyharto's former son-in-law, Gunawan
\nSantoso as the mastermind of the shooting. The family alleged
\nthat revenge could be the motive.<\/p>\n
But North Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Djoko Susilo played
\ndown the allegations by saying that the police had yet to name
\nGunawan as a suspect.<\/p>\n
However, Makbul admitted that detectives were hunting for
\nGunawan, who escaped from Kuningan Penitentiary in Cirebon, West
\nJava, on Jan 15.<\/p>\n
Gunawan was convicted to two years and seven months after
\nbeing found guilty in a Rp 25 billion (US$3.05 million)
\nembezzlement case while he was a supervisor in Boedyharto's
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
\"We started looking for him based on a request from the
\nMinistry of Justice and Human Rights after his breakout,\" Makbul
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Gunawan's sister Sulis, 37, denied the allegations against her
\nbrother, and claimed she had not seen him in two years.<\/p>",
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