Military arms killed Boedyharto, police says
Military arms killed Boedyharto, police says
Tiarma Siboro and
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The National Military Police Commander Maj. Gen. Sulaiman A.B.
hinted on Tuesday that a sharp shooter using military equipment
was involved in the cold-blooded shooting of a businessman and
his Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) bodyguard.
"I believe that the killer is a well trained person and a
sharp shooter. Evident from the projectiles found near the
victims' bodies, the sharp shooter used standard military
weapons, either a gun or a rifle, with the caliber 9mm," he told
reporters at the Army's Headquarters in Central Jakarta.
The two-star general said that these conclusions were based on
preliminary evidence, adding that he had already assigned his
members to join the police in investigating the case.
PT Asaba president director Boedyharto Angsono, 55, and his
bodyguard First Sgt. Edy Siyet, 33, were shot dead by an
unidentified man at the Sasana Krida sports stadium in North
Jakarta on Saturday.
The suspect was accompanied by another man who was waiting on
a motorcycle while the murder took place.
Boedyharto suffered six shot wounds to the head and body and
Edy one to the head. Police found eight projectiles at the scene.
Police sources said earlier that the hitmen must have been
highly-skilled in using firearms and "far smarter and more
skillful than Edy" as they had easily paralyzed him, despite the
fact that he was a member of the elite Kopassus' anti terrorist
squad.
The doctor who conducted the autopsies concluded that the
shooter had been standing very close to both the victims. The
doctor found ash in the open shot wounds and reasoned that most
of the bullets had penetrated the bodies.
Asked if the killer could be from a military unit, Sulaiman
said: "we have yet to conclude if the murder implicates units of
the military. But, indeed, such weapons are used by soldiers from
the Army, the Navy and the Air Force."
But he said civilians and police are also familiar with these
kinds of weapons. So, the police have intensified their
investigations to include many parties who have access to such
weapons.
The National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said that the
police would intensify rechecking of the possession of weapons
among civilians in an effort to crush street crimes.
He also said that the police would investigate the possibility
of groups of men operating as hired assassins.
"Responding to public anxiety over increasing street crimes
and the possible presence of hitman groups, we (the police) are
now monitoring the distribution of weapons among civilians," Da'i
said in a joint press conference with Coordinating Minister for
Political and Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
Although the police hold the authority to issue licenses for
weapons possessed by civilians, most criminals use unregistered
weapons, Da'i said.
Boedyharto was buried at the Petamburan cemetery, Central
Jakarta, on Tuesday.
During the funeral's proceedings, Boedyharto's wife said that
her family did intend to take revenge upon those who had killed
her husband.
"We won't take any revenge ... God's love makes us strong to
stand here," she said in tears.
The ceremony was secured by several bodyguards in
plainclothes.
Edy was taken to Padalarang, West Java, for burial, on Sunday.