Malaysian implicated of 5-star hotel murder

JAKARTA (JP): City police yesterday officially named a Malaysian businessman as the suspect in Monday's murder of a local woman, who was found dead in a corridor on the 12th-floor of a five-star hotel in Central Jakarta on Monday.

Spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna told reporters that the suspect was identified as Charanjit Dadwal, a Malaysian businessman of Indian origin, not an Indian national identified as CJ as reported yesterday.

Iman, however, refused to explain the motive for the killing, saying that police were attempting to match the preliminary findings. All fingerprints, blood stains and semen found at the crime site are still being examined, he said.

The suspect, he said, wanted a lawyer to accompany him during the next police questioning session.

Among people interviewed by the police is Rini, a close friend of the victim, who introduced her to the suspect, and a man named Ronny, who booked a room at the hotel for Dadwal.

The body of Wati, 26, was found with severe wounds on her neck and face at around 7:45 a.m. near the emergency stairs on the 12th floor of the 21-floor tower behind the main hotel.

Dadwal, who checked out of the hotel at 10:27 a.m., was arrested at around 2:30 p.m. at a nearby building on the same day.

Police said that the Malaysian businessman was planning to leave for Malaysia by plane late in the evening.

The body of Wati, an employee of Etienne Aigner boutique in Pondok Indah Mall in South Jakarta, was buried yesterday afternoon.

Her brother, Rosiid, 35, said that Wati left their house at the Pesanggrahan area in Bintaro, South Jakarta, on Sunday morning, saying that she might spend the night at a friend's house.

A police source said that he believed the victim was not a call girl. (bsr)