Jeep driver suspects bomb was planted in bag
Jeep driver suspects bomb was planted in bag
JAKARTA (JP): The driver of the jeep which exploded on
Wednesday in front of the Jakarta Hilton Convention Center (JHCC)
in Central Jakarta said on Thursday that shortly before the
deadly blast, a man in the crowd had handed them a bag.
Asep Sugianto, 23, the driver of the Daihatsu Taft jeep, who
was accompanied by three other men on the day, said the stranger
told him that the bag contained bottled mineral water.
He said their suspicions were not aroused and they did not
investigate the bag's contents before the vehicle exploded in the
midst of thousands of angry Indonesian Democratic Party of
Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) supporters.
The blast killed Santo Mubarokh, 21, and severely injured Asep
and two others in the car. Members of the crowd who were near the
vehicle at the time also sustained severe facial and other
injuries.
Santo, who had been sitting next to Asep, was a mechanic at
the Perjuangan car garage in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta.
"It was Santo who held the bag. When he went to turn on the
car's radio suddenly the car blew up," Asep said.
Asep said the group had been heading down Jl. Gatot Subroto,
but had found themselves trapped in the huge crowd.
He said the vehicle had been just about to pass through the
crowd when the explosion occurred.
Asep was rushed to the Soekanto Police Hospital in East
Jakarta but was later moved to Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital.
After the explosion, individuals in the crowd told journalists
they had found a certificate for a short electrical course in
Asep's name.
Asep said he was also employed as a mechanic at the garage in
Bendungan Hilir. The garage is owned by Ganis Juwana, 48, who was
in the car when the blast occurred.
Ganis is currently receiving treatment at the privately run
MMC Hospital in Kuningan, South Jakarta.
Fajar Iswadi, 20, a resident of Tebet, West Jakarta, and also
a garage employee, was initially taken to the nearby Mintohardjo
Navy Hospital. He was later moved to the intensive care ward at
Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, where he was admitted with
severe head injuries.
Santo's uncle, Budi Santosa, said the garage crew were on call
at the time of the accident.
Witnesses said the car had come from the Slipi direction, and
that after being trapped by the crowd had tried to make a U-turn.
The police hospital earlier on Thursday delivered a male
corpse to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for postmortem
examination.
The body had sustained a deep wound on the right side of the
stomach. The unidentified victim, estimated to be 18 years old,
also had sustained bruises to the head, face and legs.
Police found the corpse on Wednesday evening near the fire-
gutted JHCC entrance. Officers speculated that the man was
impaled on the fence when he attempted to jump over it during the
chaos. (01)