Man arrested over alleged role in Tambora murder

Man arrested over alleged role in Tambora murder

JAKARTA (JP): Police have captured one of the two people
suspected of murdering a man and stashing his body in the trunk
of a President taxi early Sunday in North Jakarta.

But city police spokesman Lt. Col. Aritonang refused to
provide details about the suspect.

Local newspapers said both the attackers and the victim were
hoodlums involved in a turf war in the Kali Besar area, Tambora,
North Jakarta.

The two unidentified men forced a President taxi driver,
Rochmadi, 23, to take the man they had beaten up to a nearby
hospital. They put the victim in the taxi's trunk.

"I couldn't do anything to refuse their will because they put
a knife to my side," he said as quoted by the police.

Rochmadi said the hoodlums had been involved in a brawl in
front of Diskotek Kaliber in Tambora, where the two suspects had
attacked the victim.

But before the taxi reached the hospital, the vehicle ran out
of gas and stalled. The two passengers became angry and
repeatedly stabbed the man in the trunk to death.

In a separate incident, Second Private Suntianto of the Army's
Law Enforcement Department was beaten up by an angry mob Monday
morning for allegedly stealing a motorcycle in Pulo Gebang, East
Jakarta.

The owner of the motorcycle, Katmin, said that about 7 a.m. he
left his Honda Astrea with its engine running in his yard on Jl.
Swadaya, East Jakarta.

A few minutes later he returned to discover that his motorbike
was missing.

"I looked around and I saw the man (Suntianto) push the
motorbike away from my house. I yelled for help and the neighbors
started to run after him," Katmin told the police.

Suntianto was detained at Jakarta Military Police Headquarters
before he was handed over to his unit for further investigation.

Jakarta Military Command spokesman Lt. Col. D.J. Nachrowi told
reporters Monday that the authorities wanted to investigate
whether the suspect was a military officer or an impostor. (edt)