Eight arrested over Basri's murder

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The investigation into the murder of notorious gang leader Basri Sangaji led to the arrest of eight men on Thursday, who were suspected of involvement in the bloody attack at a hotel room on Tuesday.

"All the arrested suspects admitted they were involved in the assault of Basri Sangaji and his relatives," Jakarta Police detectives chief Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang said.

The suspects, whose names have been withheld by the police, were arrested at a house in Bekasi at about 3:30 a.m.

The police seized from the eight, among others items, a .32 caliber gun loaded with rubber bullets, a dagger and four 90- centimeter machetes used in the attack, Salempang added.

"The detained suspects said that they took the gun from Basri," Salempang said.

He said that investigators had reported that there had only been eight attackers, not 15 as previously stated by the police.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, the eight arrived at Kebayoran Inn Hotel, South Jakarta, in a Panther minivan and an Escudo jeep. Heavily armed, the men barged into room 301 where Basri and his relatives, Ali and Jamal, were sleeping.

Basri died with several gashes and a gunshot wound to his body, while Ali and Jamal are now hospitalized for severe injuries from sharp weapons.

The police found two 9-millimeter bullet cases in the room.

Salempang said that the police had not determined the motive behind the murder.

He also refused to say whether the detained suspects belonged to a another well-known gang.

"However, one thing is for sure, they do not belong to the group that Hercules leads. We have questioned Hercules, and we are sure he had nothing to do with the attack," he said.

In May 2002, Basri had been named a suspect for allegedly shooting Hercules in a "territorial dispute" in South Jakarta.

Police detained Basri for several days, but later released him and the case was closed.