Eight grilled over Bandung explosions
Eight grilled over Bandung explosions
Yuli Tri Suwarni, Bandung
A top police officer in West Java calmed public fears on Thursday
that the two separate explosions that rocked Bandung a day
earlier were caused by high explosives.
Meanwhile, eight people have been questioned over the
incident.
Quoting a report from the police forensic team, West Java
Police chief Insp. Gen. Edi Darnadi said that the two separate
explosions had been caused by hand-detonated, low-explosive
devices.
"The police forensic team has not discovered chemical
substances normally found in high-explosive bombs," Edi said in
Bandung.
The forensic team has already discovered four small batteries,
four lengths of cable and green aluminum foil.
The explosions took place on Wednesday morning on the sidewalk
of Jl. Braga and the third floor of the Eterna Building in
Banceuy trading center -- the two locations only about 100 meters
apart. No fatalities were reported in the incidents.
The explosions came as a shock as they occurred in the city's
downtown area, and at the height of the West Java police hunt for
international terror suspects Dr. Azahari and Noordin Mohd Top.
Initial reports on the explosions also scared investors at the
Jakarta Stock Exchange, who quickly put transactions on hold,
fearing that the explosions could be a precursor to more violent
attacks.
The two-star general, however, ruled out the possibility that
the explosions were the work of professional terrorists, saying
the detonators used were "simple".
Edi also said that the motives for the incident were still
unknown, although the explosions targeted two places that had
allegedly been used as gambling dens.
Edi said that the two were not gambling dens, but merely
"ordinary amusement places". He also refuted allegations that
there was a connection between the explosions and protests
against gambling staged recently in Bandung, the capital of West
Java province.
This was in contrast to an earlier statement made by National
Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung.
Soon after the explosions, the three-star general said they
were acts of protest against gambling, as gambling dens appeared
intentionally to have been targeted.
Bandung Police chief Sr. Comr. Hendra Sukmana said that the
explosions did not cause any injury or damage to surrounding
buildings. He said that his subordinates had questioned eight
witnesses in the case, six of whom were in the parking lot of the
Eterna Building, with the other two standing close to Jl. Braga
at the time of the explosions. The police are due to question
more witnesses.
A police forensic team was still seeking evidence on Thursday
at the two explosion sites. The investigations attracted motorist
passersby who slowed their vehicles down to look at what the
police were doing there.