Murder suspects 'gang members'

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta Police detectives identified on Wednesday the three primary suspects who allegedly stabbed to death a Betawi resident in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta, in a clash between the two ethnic groups on Monday, as members of a gang headed by a Madurese.

South Jakarta Police chief of detectives Comr. Napoleon Bonaparte identified the suspects as Suniran, Asmat and Ali Mansyur, members of a group headed by a notorious hoodlum, named Atam.

Napoleon said that Atam allegedly coerced food vendors in the Kebayoran Lama traditional market, into paying his men money, so that the traders' businesses were not disturbed.

"We believe that Atam and his men justified this type of extortion by what he called a cleaning service. Atam owns garbage trucks and his men clean up the garbage daily from around the traders' kiosks in the market, for a price," Napoleon told reporters on Wednesday.

"The price could reach between Rp 4,000 (US$ 4 cents) to Rp 8,000 per kiosk daily."

South Jakarta administration records state that there are about 3,000 kiosks in the Kebayoran Lama traditional market.

"While Atam's men are suspects in the murder case, he himself is now officially a suspect for extortion," Napoleon told reporters.

"The murder was purely spontaneous... we are still questioning 11 suspects over the murder."

The Monday stabbing of a Betawi, Iwan Setiawan alias Acong occurred because a group of youths, including Iwan, conducted an ID check on people passing Jl. Kangkung in Kebayoran Lama.

The ID check reportedly involved asking people whether they were Betawi or Madurese, a move which angered Madurese residents enough to track Iwan down, and kill him.

Meanwhile, Atam himself told reporters at South Jakarta Police precinct that he had nothing to do with the stabbing, and was depressed over the actions of his men.

"Please don't call me a hoodlum. I really don't know why this has happened," Atam told reporters on Wednesday.

"The people who murdered Iwan were my men, but my only relationship with them is connected with the cleanliness of the Kebayoran Lama market."

With regard the extortion case, Atam strongly denied rumors that he provided a Kebayoran Lama district official with Rp 25 million each month to extort money from market traders.

"That's a lie. I agree that some of my men are greedy. They ask for more than what they deserve, but when it comes to me, I do not pay bribes to anyone," Atam said. (ylt)