Guilt of suspected killed questioned after confession

JAKARTA (JP): Following a questioning session, police raised doubts yesterday about the confession made by a man who was arrested on Tuesday for his alleged role in the killing of a senior officer in East Jakarta last week.

The man, Baskoni Wahab, admitted to killing Maj. Noenang Kohar with a knife.

"We are not all that sure that he's the killer," said head of the Pulogadung police, Maj. Soekiman, who was assigned to lead the investigation of the killing of Maj. Noenang. The officer was stabbed to death by a passenger of a bajaj (small three-wheeled transport vehicle) following a heated argument after a slight crash between the bajaj and the Daihatsu Taft jeep driven by Noenang. Noenang was wearing civilian clothes at the time of the incident.

According to Soekiman, police interrogators who have questioned a number of witnesses besides Baskoni since his arrest on Tuesday morning, have found something which has led the police to believe that the teacher might not be the murderer.

"He might say that he's the murderer, but his confessions should be proved and matched with available evidence and information given by witnesses," Soekiman said.

The officer, however, refused to give further details pending the completion of the investigation.

Maj. Noenang, 38, the newly-appointed head of the Pademangan police, was fatally stabbed on Jl. Wisma Jaya, East Jakarta, on his way home from his office at approximately 7:00 p.m. last Friday.

Baskoni, in his 50s and a senior teacher and manager of the Kagumi economics educational foundation in Cakung, East Jakarta, was arrested four days later at approximately 7:30 a.m. Tuesday as he was alighting from a public transport vehicle in front of his office on Jl. Kayu Tinggi.

Police earlier said that Baskoni was planning to leave the city yesterday with a total of Rp 9 million (US$3,850) in cash in his pocket.

Police officers claim that the murder had been a spontaneous act.

Following the arrest of Baskoni, the police dismissed the special team of 70 detectives assigned to hunt the suspect.

The "reluctance" of police to make a formal statement regrading the case has sparked speculation that Baskoni is just a scapegoat--someone who has been assigned to protect the real suspect of his own free will.

Earlier local media reports presumed that the suspect was a member of the Armed Forces who had already been taken into custody and questioned secretly by the authorities.

Married with three children, Noenang had just quit his former position as the head of the drugs unit at the city police headquarters. (bsr)