Parts of human body discovered in separate places

JAKARTA (JP): Dismembered body parts believed to be of a male in his 20s were found at two separate locations in western Jakarta on Monday afternoon.

The discovery of a head, two legs and two arms was reported at 1 p.m. by residents on Jl. Arjuna, near the Kebun Jeruk toll road entrance in West Jakarta.

About half an hour earlier, locals in the Cikupa district of Tangerang, about 30-minutes from where the other body parts were discovered, found a human torso.

When contacted late in the evening, Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital forensic department head Budi Sampurna said the body parts found at the two sites came from the same person. The body was taken to the hospital for a postmortem examination.

"The cuts matched, but to make certain (the parts are from the same body) the blood types should also be matched," he told The Jakarta Post.

Budi also said the hospital's forensic experts had found smooth cuts on the body, indicating that a sharp weapon was used in the crime.

A hole was also found in the upper-right side of the head, but it remained unclear whether it was the result of a gunshot wound or a stab wound.

Budi, however, declined to disclose a possible time of death. "It's not our job to disclose the results of our work to the public. We will hand over the results to the police. Let them make it public later."

Earlier, officers from the West Jakarta Police made a preliminary conclusion that the dismembered body parts came from the same person.

They said the victim was a male in his 20s with light-colored skin, a hairy chest and a moustache.

The officers, however, declined further comment, saying they were waiting for the final results of the postmortem examination.

"The autopsy is still underway so we can't make any final conclusions in the case," West Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Timur Pradopo said.

He added that he was still waiting for the results of blood tests to confirm the body parts came from the same person.

However, one of Timur's detectives said the body parts came from the same murder victim.

"There must be deep resentment behind this murder," the detective said.

This is the first such discovery this year. The capital witnessed three mutilation-murder cases last year. All of the victims were female and the motive behind all of the murders was personal disputes.

The body parts on the busy Jl. Arjuna, near the University of Indonesia Esa Unggul, were first spotted by plant vendor Yahya.

He said when he left his business at midday there was nothing suspicious. Returning half an hour later, he saw a cardboard box and plastic bag dumped in a nearby garbage pile.

"When I came close to the spot, I saw two legs ... And when I opened the cardboard box, I saw human hair ... and I didn't look any further," Yahya said.

"There was still blood coming from the cuts (in the flesh)," Yahya, 38, of Kebon Jeruk, said.

He stopped a passerby, later identified as construction worker Samingan, to verify his discovery.

"He (Yahya) told to me to check whether what he saw was real and after that he asked me to watch the body parts while he alerted the police," Samingan said.

News of the discovery spread quickly and a crowd of people flocked to the site, causing traffic congestion along the street.

Police arrived several minutes later to collect the body parts and take them to the hospital.

The torso in Tangerang was initially discovered by a member of the Cikupa District Military Command, Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto said.

The torso was placed in a black plastic bag, he said.

"It was just dumped on the side of the road, which is a quiet area there," Pudji said.

He said police first sent the body part to the local state-run Tangerang General Hospital, but when they heard the West Jakarta Police had a similar case, the torso was taken to the hospital in Central Jakarta.(emf)