No progress, police split over Salemba blast motive

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)