Officers sent to Slawi, Solo for main suspect
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police have sent at least 10 detectives to Slawi and Surakarta in Central Java to hunt down Achmad Riyadi, alias Assadullah, the fourth and most important suspect in last Sunday's attempted murder of National Awakening Party (PKB) chairman Matori Abdul Djalil.
"It's from Assadullah's capture alone that we can find not only Muhammad Ichwan, alias Zulfikar, but also what lies behind the attempted murder," Jakarta Mobile Detectives (Resmob) chief Capt. Riad said on Saturday.
Police obtained Assadullah's name from an arrested suspect and several witnesses.
Detectives arrested on Thursday night Achmad Tazul Arifin, alias Sabar, 33, who reportedly was an accomplice of Matori's attacker, Sarmo, alias Tarmo. Tarmo was mobbed to death on Sunday in the Jagakarsa area for not paying for an ojek (motorcycle taxi) ride.
Riad said that unlike claims made by the media yesterday, the main suspect, who is an employee of the Office of the State Ministry of Social Affairs, is Assadullah, not Sabar.
"Sabar tried to fool us. We later learned that the State Ministry of Social Affairs employee was Assadullah. How? Because, Assadullah asked for a three-day leave from the ministry," he said.
"We have Assadullah's holiday application form with us. On it he said he was heading for Slawi and Solo (Surakarta)."
Police also confiscated a rifle, an FN gun and a homemade revolver from Sabar's home in the Total Persada Raya housing complex, Jatiuwung, Tangerang, at about 9:15 p.m. on Thursday.
Upon searching the residences of Ichwan in Petamburan and Assadullah in Cibitung, Bekasi, police sources said they found a hat, Milisi Taliban (Taliban Militia) booklets on warfare studies, notes on how to make homemade bombs that have twice the amount of flammable toxic compound trinitrotoluene (TNT), notes on several rifle and gun designs, and notes on how to design one.
"Who is teaching them all this, we don't know," the sources said.
They added, however, that there was a possibility that whoever gave them lessons on warfare could possibly be the link to the real motive of the attempted murder.
Sabar is apparently a member of the radical Angkatan Mujahiddin Islam Nusantara (AMIN) youth organization, which is based in the Caringin Maseng subdistrict of Cijeruk, Bogor.
The group reportedly provided military-style training to its members and planned robberies at several large banks and on toll roads in Greater Jakarta to raise funds for its activities.
Sabar and Tarmo are also suspected of being involved in last April's Bank BCA robbery, which occurred following a bomb blast at the Hayam Wuruk shopping center in West Jakarta.
Separately, National Police chief Lt. Gen. Rusdihardjo said on Saturday that the police had yet to find sufficient evidence linking AMIN to the attempted murder of Matori.
"Until this morning, we have yet to find clues that link the group to the attack," Rusdihardjo said, refusing to elaborate.
"The suspect was just arrested on Thursday. We're still investigating the case. If I disclose to the public today, it would violate the suspect's right to presumption of innocence."
Meanwhile, the home of Zulfikar on the narrow Buaya alley off Jl. Karet Pasar Baru Barat II is being guarded by plainclothes officers. Zulfikar's three children, the oldest being five years old, have been relocated to the home of relatives of his wife.
His wife Endang, 28, a pious-looking woman, was seen lying down on a bed with Zulfikar's mother, Mariah (not her real name), 47, who has a heart condition.
"The police entered this house at about 1:30 a.m. on Monday, and since then they have not left. They just turned over everything in this house, took all pictures of Ichwan," Endang told the Post.
"What do they want from my husband, who is just a seller of pisang goreng (fried bananas) and kripik (crackers)?"
Endang said the last time she saw her husband was at 3:30 p.m. last Sunday, when he asked the family's permission to spent time in Bogor.
Mariah said Ichwan was an innocent man.
"He has always been quiet and loves to read. He used to give private lessons on physics and mathematics to children in the neighborhood ... then he left that to help his wife make crackers and fried bananas," Mariah said.
"In all the cases involving AMIN and a few other radical groups that we have dealt with, we have found the suspects to have this cracker business, always by the name of Karomah," Riad said.
"To the outside world, they are makers of ordinary crackers and are ordinary people. To the police, Karomah is their calling card ... their ID card identifying them as members of a certain radical group." (ylt/asa)