Chronology of SMPN 26 Bandung Student Killed by His Friend in Kampung Gajah

The Criminal Investigation Unit of Cimahi Police has arrested two suspects in the murder of a student from SMPN 26 in Bandung, identified by the initials ZAN, whose body was found at the former Kampung Gajah tourist site in West Bandung Regency. The Cimahi Police Chief, AKBP Niko Nurallah, stated that the suspects, identified by the initials YA (16) and AP (17), who are both minors, were apprehended in the Banyuresmi area of Garut. “Thank God, we have successfully arrested the two suspects with the initials YA and AP, both of whom are under 16 and 17 years old respectively. The suspects and the victim knew each other and had previously been friends,” he said during a press conference at the Cimahi Police headquarters on Sunday, 15 February 2026.

Preliminary examinations indicate that the motive for the murder was likely driven by resentment. “In broad terms, the motive was that the suspect felt hurt because the victim had expressed a desire to end their friendship,” he explained. According to the investigation, the suspects travelled from Garut to Bandung, where they met the victim in the Sukajadi area, near the victim’s school. The victim was then taken to the crime scene at the former Kampung Gajah site, where an argument ensued. The suspects proceeded to strike the victim’s head with a bottle, causing him to fall, and then stabbed him eight times with a sharp weapon known as a sangkur, which had been prepared in advance.

As a result, the victim sustained a blunt force injury to the head that caused tearing, as well as eight stab wounds to the abdomen. To cover their tracks, the suspects used the victim’s mobile phone to send messages to the victim’s friends, pretending that the victim was still alive and claiming to have been kidnapped. For their actions, the suspects have been charged under Article 80 Paragraph (3) of Law Number 35 of 2014 on Child Protection, as amended by Law Number 23 of 2022, and Article 340 of the Criminal Code regarding premeditated murder, which carries potential penalties of the death penalty, life imprisonment, or a maximum of 20 years in prison.