Air Force sergeant held for 'killing'

Air Force sergeant held for 'killing'

JAKARTA (JP): The police arrested last night an Air Force
first sergeant for allegedly killing a woman whose dismembered
body was found in a fishpond in Pondok Ranggon, East Jakarta, on
Saturday.

Chief of the East Jakarta Police precinct Lt. Col. Sjahrir
Kuba told The Jakarta Post last night that his team of detectives
arrested the Air Force officer, identified only as First Sgt.
Luk, at 9:30 p.m. at a security post near Halim Airbase in East
Jakarta.

Sjahrir said the suspect did not resist arrest. He was
detained at the East Jakarta Police headquarters.

Sjahrir said the victim had been identified as Chairanti,
alias Butet, 25, a resident of Bintara Jaya housing complex in
West Bekasi.

"There was an indication that they had had an affair," he
added.

The police found earlier yesterday seven human body parts in
Halim Perdanakusuma, East Jakarta. The body parts were confirmed
as belonging to Chairanti, though her mutilated body was found 10
km away in Pondok Ranggon.

The seven pieces were found wrapped in five plastic bags in
bushes 200 meters from a runway at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air
Force base.

The body parts, consisting of a head, right arm, two hands,
two feet and the lower part of the right leg, were located about
five meters from the fence of the base complex.

The pieces were immediately removed by officers of the East
Jakarta police precinct.

No details were available on who first discovered the body
parts or who informed the police about the discovery.

The body parts were immediately sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo
General Hospital yesterday evening for postmortem examination.

Budi Sampurna, one of the hospital's forensic experts,
confirmed yesterday that the seven body parts were part of the
unidentified female body found in Pondok Ranggon.

He said, however, no information was available yet on the way
the woman was killed.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said earlier
yesterday that police still had not found significant clues to
uncover the mystery of the hideous murder.

"So far, three families have tried to identify the victim at
Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital," he said.

Aritonang also said that the police were still working on the
first mutilated body case, in which a body was cut into 12 pieces
and found in Tangerang on June 21.

"We are doing the best we can. Both cases are being handled
thoroughly. There is a slight chance that these cases could be
solved from leads gained from witnesses and forensic results...
but of course if the killer made mistakes, it would be
advantageous to us," he said. (edt/ivy)