Main suspect in prosecutor's murder gives police the slip
Ruslan Sangadji, Palu
Central Sulawesi provincial police are scouring the city for the prime suspect in the killing of prosecutor Ferry Silalahi, after a police raid on his hideout in Poso failed to capture him on Thursday.
Ferry Silalahi, a prosecutor handling terrorism cases in the provincial capital of Palu, was shot on May 26 in his car by four gunmen on two motorcycles after attending an evening prayer service with his wife. She survived the attack.
Central Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. Taufik Ridho said on Friday afternoon police raided a house in Poso on Thursday night but the suspect had already fled.
Taufik said investigators believed the suspect had not yet left Poso. "We are aware of his (general) hiding place and have deployed a group of our detectives to observe the area," he said.
Police have set up checkpoints on the roads exiting Poso in the latest attempt to bring him into custody. Taufik said police had increased their presence at several city guard posts and provided officers with sketches of the suspect.
Also in Palu, police bomb disposal officers sealed off three Bank Mandiri branch offices here on Friday morning after a manager received bomb threats on his cellphone. Police said they believed the threats were a hoax.
The text message said bombs had been placed at the Jl. Sam Ratulangi and Jl. Hasanuddin branches in East Palu and on Jl. Imam Bonjol in West Palu.
Bank Mandiri Palu branch manager Kusnan Sutisna said when he turned on his cellphone at about 6 a.m. local time, he read a text message telling him the banks would be bombed at 10:30 a.m. The message had been sent at about 2:50 a.m. Kusnan then called the police.
Palu Police Chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Noman Siswandi said it was possible the bomb threat could have been connected to a group of investors whose loan request had been denied by Bank Mandiri.
Investigators suspect that the group felt the bank had been partial in disbursing loans and had resorted to the threats in retaliation.