Police arrest suspects in murder of cameraman

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested two of three men whom they believe carried out last week's murder of a cameraman who worked for the TPI television network.

Deputy chief of the Palmerah police in West Jakarta, Capt. Endin K., told reporters that the two suspects, identified as Abdul Halim and Sukri, were arrested at different places in Jakarta yesterday.

Halim was arrested at approximately 2 a.m. in Tangerang, while Sukri was arrested in South Jakarta at 8 p.m., Endin said.

The other suspect, identified as Ismail, is still at large but police say that it is only a matter of time before he, too, is arrested, given that his identity is already known to police.

The fugitive is believed to be the one who fatally stabbed M. Kamarullah bin Manaf, alias Akmal Chaniago, 40, at approximately 11:30 p.m. last Wednesday. Akmal was attacked on the street immediately in front of his house in Jl. Anggrek Cendrawasih VIII, West Jakarta.

All of the suspects are aged in their 20s, police said.

Endin said the motive for the murder was still not known. "We will know the motive after we have finished interrogating the two suspects now in police custody," he said.

But another reliable source at the West Jakarta police precinct who asked not to be identified said that the preliminary investigation of the two suspects and several witnesses had revealed that the killing had been masterminded by the victim's widow, Sukamti, and her illicit lover, Abdul Halim, who he said had been living together for about one year.

With the help of a friend, Sukri, Halim and Sukamti planned the killing, said the source.

On the night of the murder, he said, the three were waiting at a small warung (vendor's stall) near the scene of the crime. He said they waited until Halim's radio pager received a sign from the victim's wife that Akmal had left his office.

Police say their investigations have revealed that Akmal was stabbed once in the chest.

After being stabbed, he ran to his house and asked for help from his wife by knocking on the front door of their house.

During police questioning, Sukamti said that she had heard nothing at the time because of a heavy downpour.

Sukamti has one child by the victim.

Police are still looking for the knife with they believe Ismail used to kill the victim, Endin said.

"The two suspects (in custody) said that the knife had been thrown away somewhere near the scene of the killing," he said.

According to Endin, the arrest of the two was made as a result of information police received from a number of witnesses who live near the scene of the crime.

Police have postponed further questioning of Sukamti, who has claimed that she has been in poor health since the murder of her husband.

If found guilty, Sukamti and the three suspects could face the death penalty for first degree murder.

Endin said that police already had strong indications that an illicit love affair might have been the background to the murder. (bsr)