Eight bombs found in hotel room
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Eight bombs were found in a hotel room in Central Jakarta and the police alleged on Sunday that they could be linked to Friday's bomb blast at Petra church in Koja, North Jakarta.
Jakarta Police Spokesman Snr.Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam suspected that the two cases might be related because the suspects were all from Ambon.
The bombs were found in a suspicious-looking bag by a room boy who was cleaning room No.105 in Hotel Mega on Jl. Proklamasi, where two guests had stayed since Thursday and planned to check out on Saturday.
Following the reports from the hotel management, police then detained two suspects, named Krisman, 40, and Adventius Yupiter Koeang, 30, when they went back to the hotel to extend their stay.
Anton said that police, thus far, suspected that the bombs might have connection to the Friday's bombing due to the suspects' background.
But further investigation was required before police could be really sure about the link between the two cases.
Police had arrested two suspects, Wahyu Handoko, 20, and Ujang Arif, 17, for allegedly throwing a bomb that exploded at the frontyard of the Petra Church on Friday night. The two said they were members of a Mujahedin group which took part in the destruction of churches in Maluku in 1999.
Police said the bomb attack targeted to kill Rev. Diane Akyuwen, who previously worked in Maluku.
As for the eight bombs that were found in the hotel, the suspects refused to talk about their target.
"But, the suspects admitted that they brought the bombs from Ambon in separate parts, and assembled them later in Jakarta," Anton said.
National Police central forensics laboratory was still examining the bombs to identify their type, Anton added.
Separately, Joe, a receptionist of Hotel Mega told The Jakarta Post that the hotel situation in the wake of the bomb founding remained normal.
"The happening gives no impact to our guests. They stay at our hotel as if nothing has happened before," Joe said.