Man questioned for pen gun possession

JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta Police detectives are still questioning a 29-year-old man arrested on Thursday for possession of six pen guns and some 30 .22 caliber bullets without a police permit, an officer said on Monday.

"We are still questioning this man, so I cannot say whether he'll be charged with anything or not," Lt. Col. Timur Pradopo, chief of the precinct, Timur told The Jakarta Post.

The suspect, identified as Boyke, told reporters on Monday he and his wife had been fighting recently.

"I bought the guns and the bullets on Jl. Cileungi in Bandung, West Java, for my protection."

While the suspect was speaking with reporters, a cameraman from a local private television station hugged Boyke.

"This is my friend, my very good friend," the cameraman told a police detective.

The detective, who did not want to be named, told the cameraman that he also knew who Boyke was.

"You don't have to tell me who he is. I know he's the son of a retired AURI (Indonesian Air Force) officer. We'll take care of him, don't worry."

In another unrelated story, on Monday, Central Jakarta detectives confiscated 20 kilograms of marijuana from four people at a hotel on Jl. Letjen. Soeprapto.

Timur identified the four suspects as Linda Manurung, 36; businessman Maribun Marimbing, 28; businessman Parlin Sitorus, 32; and Michael Nainggolan, 29.

"They were arrested in room 213 of the hotel," Timur said at the Central Jakarta Police station.

Linda told reporters she came to Jakarta two weeks ago to sell the marijuana. "I originally come from Medan. That's where my out-of-work husband and my six kids, all of them girls, live."

She said that four years ago, her husband, a former security guard, told her that until she gave birth to a boy he would no longer work.

"He told me four years ago that I was a foolish woman for giving birth to girls only. He hasn't worked since. I was scared that me and my six girls might starve soon," the suspect said.

"So, I took a bus to Aceh, got the marijuana, came back to Medan. From Medan, I came to Jakarta, where I was arrested." (ylt)