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)