Mystery still shrouds Nyo Beng Seng murder

Mystery still shrouds Nyo Beng Seng murder

By K. Basrie

JAKARTA (JP): After seven months of hard work, city police
announced they have arrested two street criminals believed to
have been involved in the killing of entertainment businessman
Nyo Beng Seng.

Yesterday a reliable police source said the two alleged
criminals, identified as Sudartono, 40 and Agiono, 36, were
arrested by two plain-clothes detectives just after disembarking
from a Singapore flight at the Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport Thursday evening.

Police are still in the dark about the ring leader and the
motive of the murder. They are now looking intensively for two
people believed to have been directly responsible for killing
Beng Seng

A number of senior police officers interviewed by The Jakarta
Post yesterday confirmed the arrest but refused to be named or
give further information. "Information concerning the arrests is
the police chief's privilege," said an officer at the Crime
Investigation Directorate.

City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto was not
available yesterday for further information.

As of yesterday afternoon, the two suspects were still being
questioned by detectives at the Crime Investigation Directorate.

Soon after the arrest at the airport, the two were detained at
the City Police penitentiary.

"We got quite an amount of information from these two," said
one of the investigators. "They admitted they were ordered (by
someone) to guard the site of the planned murder in order to
facilitate the plan of the murder."

Marijuana

Sudartono, who is described as being fat, and his accomplice
Agiono, were first arrested on suspicion of drug possession.

"Based on this reason, we were then allowed, by law, to pick
them up for questioning for their role in Beng Seng's death," the
officer said.

As of yesterday no further information could be obtained
concerning the business activities of the two suspects in
Singapore.

Last month two senior detectives were assigned to find the man
behind the brutal killing. Local reports strongly suggest the
detectives are focusing their investigations against one of two
main suspects, who are Hong Lie and A Lay, both believed to be in
Singapore.

Beng Seng, alias Darmansyah Suyadi, 57, was savagely stabbed

to death 12 times in the middle of the night on April 15 this
year by at least four masked men in front of his second wife's
mansion on Jl. Pluit Kencana Raya 128 in North Jakarta.

Beng Seng's second wife, Tuty, told the police that on the way
to the hospital, her husband mentioned the two names as being the
plotters of his murder.

Many police sources also believe the killing was planned by
rival gambling businessmen.

Besides being known as the owner of the Irama Tara cassette
and video recording firm, Beng Seng also owned a number of
nightclubs, massage parlors and beauty salons and operated
gambling dens in Genting Highland in Malaysia, Christmas Island,
Las Vegas in the United States and Macao. He is also known as an
agent for local people who gamble overseas.

Hong Lie and A Lay are also noted figures in the gambling
business.

Medan gang

Hong Lie, A Lay and the late Beng Seng are of Chinese descent
and grew up in Medan, North Sumatra, before migrating to Jakarta
years ago.

The two detained suspects are also known as noted street
criminals in Medan, police said.

In an interview with Forum Keadilan magazine in Singapore
recently, Hong Lie, 37, denied the accusation of Beng Seng's
wife, saying that he had no problems in his relationship with the
deceased.

On the other hand, Hong Lie strongly believes that Tuty had a
love affair with A Lie (his name for A Lay) alias Leo Kartono,
who then hired his employees, Kiki Haryanto and A Gu, to kill
Beng Seng in order to acquire the assets of the victim.

Kiki Haryanto and A Gu are believed to be listed as the most
wanted people by the police in relation to Beng Seng's killing.

"The two fugitives are staying overseas," said an officer.

Earlier, the key witness of the killing, Beng Seng's driver
Saman, 45, stated that he saw at least four masked men, all stab
and kill his employer. (bsr)