Man gets two years for planting bomb

Man gets two years for planting bomb

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A man was sentenced to two years in prison on Thursday for
planting a bomb in Cijantung Mall, East Jakarta, last year.

Presiding judge Surya Darma Belo of the East Jakarta District
Court said on Thursday that defendant M. Nadar alias Arun, who
was unemployed, was guilty of planting the bomb in the parking
lot of the mall, which is located near the Army's Special Forces
(Kopassus) headquarters.

The mall is partly owned by Kopassus.

The court, however, failed to reveal the motive for the
bombing.

The sentence was less than the five-years demanded by
prosecutor Solichin.

Four other suspects in the case, Syahrul alias Sugeng alias
Atom, Hasan alias Nyak Mad, Mudawali and Ramli, are being tried
separately.

A number of bombs have exploded in Jakarta and several other
cities in the past few years.

The latest explosion occurred on Thursday at 5:20 a.m. when a
pipe bomb exploded near the UN building on Jl. Wahid Hasyim in
Central Jakarta.

National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said on Friday that
Thursday's explosion was similar to blasts in Jakarta and Medan,
the capital of North Sumatra.

"Preliminary investigation reveals a resemblance in the method
of bombmaking and the remnants of the bombs," he told reporters
on Friday.

Da'i was referring to the blast in the front part of the
Bhayangkari building inside the National Police Headquarters
compound in Central Jakarta in February and the blasts in Medan
last month.

The Jakarta Police have so far questioned 14 people in
connection with Thursday's bombing. Among the 14 were a cigarette
vendor who operates a kiosk in front of the UN building, a street
sweeper and a man who was passing the road when the blast
occurred.

Investigators said the low-explosive device contained
potassium chlorate, the same material found at the blast sites in
Jakarta and Medan.

The police have yet to establish a motive for the blast.