City police team visits Pindad over recent blast
City police team visits Pindad over recent blast
Leo Wahyudi S, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city police dispatched a team on Wednesday to the state-owned
weapons and ammunition manufacturer, PT Pindad, in Bandung
following the finding of a large haul of firearms and ammunition
that was believed to be connected with recent blasts in the city.
The team of three, led by Comr. Putu Jayan, was to investigate
any irregularities in the circulation of registered ammunition
and firearms.
PT Pindad spokesman Timbul Sitompul told Antara that the
company only sold arms and munitions to authorized institutions,
namely the Indonesian Military and National Police.
City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam denied any
involvement on the part of the police or the military in the
case.
A police detective, however, confirmed that the mastermind
behind the blasts, who had been identified as Ramli, was a
deserter from the Army. Ramli, along with six other suspects, are
still at large.
The latest explosion to hit the city occurred on July 1 at the
Graha Cijantung Mall in East Jakarta, which is owned by a
foundation belonging to the Army Special Force (Kopassus).
The police have named five people as suspects and also linked
them to the deadly bombing of the Stock Exchange Building in
2000, as well blasts at the Atrium Plaza last year and the ones
on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, Central Jakarta, last month.
They are Syahrul, Atom, Ahmad, Mudawali and Bambang. All are
from Aceh. While the police were not certain about their links to
the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), the military accused the movement
of being involved. Syahrul himself told reporters on Wednesday
that he was not a GAM member, but he admitted that Ramli had
asked him to keep firearms and ammunition in his rented house.
On Saturday the police found several grenades, homemade bombs,
20,000 rounds of ammunition, more than 160 magazines, several
detonators, a pack of marijuana, Rp 50 million (US$5,555) in cash
and some military-style uniforms in a rented house in Tapos
village, Cimanggis, Depok.
Smaller hauls of ammunition were also found in Cibinong and
Tangerang, Banten.