No progress, police split over Salemba blast motive

JAKARTA (JP): There was division within the police on Thursday over the possible motive behind a blast inside a public telephone booth near the Salemba Penitentiary in Central Jakarta.

One officer said the nonfatal explosion, which occurred at about 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday, was merely meant to attract people's attention, while another said it was part of a serious campaign to terrorize the public.

Jakarta Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Adang Rochyana played down the blast, quoting the results of an investigation by the police's forensic laboratory which found the blast was caused by "low explosive" firecrackers.

Adang implied the blast was not meant to cause injury, saying that if the explosives had been placed inside the phone booth in a larger quantity and wrapped in flammable material, they could have caused injury.

"They (the perpetrators) deliberately placed the explosives at night inside an out-of-order telephone booth.

"But we are still investigating who put the firecrackers inside the telephone booth," Adang said.

Separately, Central Jakarta Police deputy chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Iza Fadri said the perpetrators wanted to terrorize the public, adding that the blast had the potential to cause death.

Iza speculated the explosion was caused by an extremely large firecracker, as police collected a large amount of paper debris from the scene.

The police have questioned five eyewitnesses, including Gopar, a guard at Salemba prison. Gopar was inside a nearby telephone booth shortly before the explosion.

Police quoted Gopar as saying he saw a flame like a burning fuse on the side of the telephone booth. He then ran out of the booth and shortly afterward the explosive went off.

A shocked Gopar fell unconscious following the blast, which was heard in a radius of 500 meters. (01)