Bullets used in shooting 'made by Pindad'

JAKARTA (JP): The bullets used in the fatal shooting of Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita on Thursday were manufactured by state ammunitions producer, PT Pindad, police said.

Chief of National Police Forensics Laboratory (Puslabfor), Brig. Gen. M. Hamim, said in a forensic report on Friday that at least two bullets of .9 millimeter caliber had "PIN" inscribed on them.

PIN stands for PINDAD.

Hamim added that the weapon used came from a Browning gun of Fabrique Nationale (FN).

The FN gun is normally used as a standard weapon by the Indonesian Military (TNI).

Meanwhile, city police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Adang Rochana said on Friday that police were currently questioning 20 witnesses in the shooting case, including a number of eyewitnesses to the incident.

"Seven are being questioned at Jakarta Police headquarters, while the rest are being questioned at Central Jakarta Police headquarters," Adang told reporters.

"We have yet to find a conclusive motive behind the shooting."

Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who sentenced former president Soeharto's son Hutomo Mandala Putra and his golfing buddy Mohamad "Bob" Hasan to jail for corruption, was shot dead on Thursday morning while driving to work at the Supreme Court.

Eyewitnesses said they saw four men on two motorcycles forcing Syafiuddin to stop his Honda CRV jeep on Jl. Serdang Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, at about 8:30 a.m.

Following the shootings, the victim's vehicle lost control and struck a nearby cigarette stall and a roadside barber, seriously injuring the cigarette vendor.

Chief Justice Bagir Manan said that it was not unreasonable to assume that the murder was related to cases Syafiuddin had worked on. (ylt)