Bali Police find grenade, ammunition

As the investigation into the Bali bombing on Oct. 12 continues, police in the provincial capital of Denpasar secured a grenade and ammunition in the early hours of Wednesday morning in the city's downtown area following a tip-off.

The South Korea-made grenade, which was still active, and 95 rounds of ammunition for a Russia-made AK-47 automatic rifle were found inside a bag along with seven tubes of chemicals. The bag was lying on the roadside in front of the Denpasar District Court on Jl. Yos Sudarso.

Denpasar police subprecinct chief Adj. Comr. Helmi Santika said a man called the police around midnight informing them about a suspicious bag on the street.

"He appeared to be afraid as he quickly put the phone down after giving us the information," Helmi said.

He said it was too premature to link the find to the bomb attack that killed at least 190 people last month on the resort island.

In connection with the probe into the Bali bombing, East Java Police officers seized various chemicals on Wednesday from a shop owned by Silvester Tendean, who sold the chemicals allegedly used to make the Bali bomb to Amrozi, the only suspect detained so far in the case.

Silvester's lawyer, Wiyono Subagyo, objected to police attempts to link his client to Amrozi, saying they simply had a vendor-purchaser relationship.

"My client did not know that the chemicals would be used to make a bomb," said Wiyono. -- JP