Police make first arrest following Bali bombings<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
After 10 days of investigation, police acknowledged on Tuesday
\nhaving arrested a man in connection with the recent terror attack
\non Bali.<\/p>\n
But, again, most-wanted bomb-maker Noordin Moh. Top slipped
\nthrough the police's fingers in a raid in Surakarta, Central
\nJava.<\/p>\n
The antiterror squad apprehended HS alias Hasan in the East
\nJava town of Jember on Sunday. Hasan is a construction worker who
\nrented a small apartment with three suspected suicide bombers on
\nJl. Nangka in Denpasar prior to the attacks on two cafes and a
\nrestaurant.<\/p>\n
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Soenarko DA said Hasan
\nwould lead the police to the masterminds or the group behind the
\nBali bombings.<\/p>\n
\"We hope that we can uncover their network and thus can arrest
\nthem all,\" Soenarko said as quoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Soenarko said witnesses had told the police that Hasan, who is
\nalso an activist of a pesantren (Islamic boarding school) in East
\nJava, shared the apartment with the three suspected suicide
\nbombers around two weeks before the blasts in Kuta and Jimbaran.
\nThe witnesses said they never saw Hasan after the bombings.<\/p>\n
A second police spokesman, Sr. Comr. Bambang Kuncoro, said
\nanother witness who happened to be in Raja's Bar and Restaurant
\nwhen the bomb went off said he had seen one of the suspects
\nbefore because he rented an apartment next door.<\/p>\n
\"One of the witnesses said he recognized one of the severed
\nheads found in Kafe Nyoman as his neighbor's,\" Bambang said.<\/p>\n
The witness identified the suspected suicide bomber by his
\ninitials as YT and told the police YT's hometown. Bambang refused
\nto reveal the details of the disclosure.<\/p>\n
Ten witnesses from Kafe Menega acknowledged having seen three
\nstrangers in front of Kafe Ubung, which is not far from the blast
\nsite, at around 3 p.m. on Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
The strangers were all wearing black clothes and looked
\nrestless, with one of them walking about in front of the cafe.<\/p>\n
Bambang said so far police had questioned a total of 230
\nwitnesses in connection with the attack on Kafe Menega and Kafe
\nNyoman in Jimbaran and Raja's restaurant in Kuta.<\/p>\n
Police have also confiscated from Hasan's apartment a
\ncomputer, audio visual equipment and documents on the bombing
\nplan as evidence.<\/p>\n
In Mataram, on Bali's neighboring island of Lombok, police
\nquestioned an Acehnese man identified as Indrayoni as his ID card
\nwas found at the blast site in Kuta. Police are looking for his
\nfriend Ahmad Yadi for the same reason.<\/p>\n
Indrayoni said he and Ahmad Yadi went to Bali last month to
\nfind jobs. They rented rooms near Raja's restaurant but went home
\na week after the explosion.<\/p>\n
Mataram Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Eko Hadi
\nPrayitno refused to comment on the questioning.<\/p>\n
Separately, head of the Surakarta Police in Central Java Sr.
\nComr. Abdul Madjid said the police were beefing up security as,
\nin previous cases, terrorists had \"laid low\" in the city.<\/p>\n
The local police have made several arrests of suspected
\nmembers of Jamaah Islamiyah, a regional terror group linked to
\nal-Qaeda, in the neighboring towns of Klaten and Wonogiri.<\/p>\n
After receiving a tip-off that Noordin M. Top was hiding in
\nthe area, the police raided a house in Surakarta on Sunday, only
\nto find the Malaysian national had fled.<\/p>\n
A police source said antiterror squad officers had hunted down
\nthe other Malaysian fugitive, Azahari bin Husin, who was believed
\nto be hiding in an Islamic boarding school in Surakarta. However,
\nAzahari fled several days before the police's arrival.<\/p>\n
With additional reporting from Blontank Poer in Surakarta,
\nCentral Java, and Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni in Mataram, West Nusa
\nTenggara.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-make-first-arrest-following-bali-bombings-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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