Police capture key Palopo bombing suspect
Police capture key Palopo bombing suspect
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi
Local police captured early on Sunday a key suspect in the recent
bombing of a cafe in Palopo regency, South Sulawesi, which killed
four people and seriously injured three others.
Jasmin, alias Jamir, alias Yaming bin Kasau, was arrested at a
house some 30 kilometers south of Palopo in Noling village,
Bupong subdistrict, Luwu regency.
Head of South Sulawesi Police crime division Sr. Comr. Achmad
Abdi said Jasmin, also known as Mister X, was being grilled at
the Palopo police station.
"At dawn today (Sunday), our officers arrested Jasmin, the
main suspect in the Palopo blast. He is being put through
intensive interrogation," Abdi said.
He said police raided a welding shop in Kandoa village, Bua
subdistrict, Luwu, which was believed to be where the bomb used
in the attack on Sampoddo Indah Cafe, Palopo, was assembled.
Police officers failed to uncover any suspicious material at
the shop, but have taken its owner to the Luwu police station for
questioning, Abdi added.
The police charged Jasmin with perpetrating the blast on Jan.
10.
Eyewitnesses were quoted by the police as saying that Jasmin
and an unidentified accomplice arrived at the targeted cafe and
10 minutes after they left, a bomb exploded at around 10:30 p.m.
from the table where they had sat.
"Based on eyewitness statements, Jasmin and his accomplice
appear to have delivered the bomb and detonated it at Sampoddo
Cafe...
"He is the prime suspect and we will ask him about the motives
and those involved in the explosion," Abdi said.
On Friday, South Sulawesi Police spokesman Comr. Sr. Andi
Nurman Thahir had accused the alleged mastermind of the Dec. 5,
2002 McDonald's bombing in Makassar, Agung Abdul Hamid, of
playing a key role in the Palopo attack.
Nurman argued that another suspect in the Jan. 10 blast,
Arman, confessed to having seen Agung, who is still at large,
eating with Jasmin and his accomplice Idil, alias Abdul Muis bin
Kardi, at a restaurant in Palopo several days after the attack.
Jasmin is one of six suspects being detained over the blast.
The police are searching for their six accomplices, who
disappeared after the attack.
The five other suspects are Arman, Aswandi, Idil, Benardi and
Ahmad Rizal, alias Ical. Three of them -- Arman, Idil and Jasmin
-- have been formally charged.
Police have blamed Jamaah Islamiyah for the Makassar blast
that killed three people and the Oct. 12, 2001 Bali bombing that
claimed at least 202 lives of foreign tourists.
Andi Hajramurni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi
Local police captured early on Sunday a key suspect in the recent
bombing of a cafe in Palopo regency, South Sulawesi, which killed
four people and seriously injured three others.
Jasmin, alias Jamir, alias Yaming bin Kasau, was arrested at a
house some 30 kilometers south of Palopo in Noling village,
Bupong subdistrict, Luwu regency.
Head of South Sulawesi Police crime division Sr. Comr. Achmad
Abdi said Jasmin, also known as Mister X, was being grilled at
the Palopo police station.
"At dawn today (Sunday), our officers arrested Jasmin, the
main suspect in the Palopo blast. He is being put through
intensive interrogation," Abdi said.
He said police raided a welding shop in Kandoa village, Bua
subdistrict, Luwu, which was believed to be where the bomb used
in the attack on Sampoddo Indah Cafe, Palopo, was assembled.
Police officers failed to uncover any suspicious material at
the shop, but have taken its owner to the Luwu police station for
questioning, Abdi added.
The police charged Jasmin with perpetrating the blast on Jan.
10.
Eyewitnesses were quoted by the police as saying that Jasmin
and an unidentified accomplice arrived at the targeted cafe and
10 minutes after they left, a bomb exploded at around 10:30 p.m.
from the table where they had sat.
"Based on eyewitness statements, Jasmin and his accomplice
appear to have delivered the bomb and detonated it at Sampoddo
Cafe...
"He is the prime suspect and we will ask him about the motives
and those involved in the explosion," Abdi said.
On Friday, South Sulawesi Police spokesman Comr. Sr. Andi
Nurman Thahir had accused the alleged mastermind of the Dec. 5,
2002 McDonald's bombing in Makassar, Agung Abdul Hamid, of
playing a key role in the Palopo attack.
Nurman argued that another suspect in the Jan. 10 blast,
Arman, confessed to having seen Agung, who is still at large,
eating with Jasmin and his accomplice Idil, alias Abdul Muis bin
Kardi, at a restaurant in Palopo several days after the attack.
Jasmin is one of six suspects being detained over the blast.
The police are searching for their six accomplices, who
disappeared after the attack.
The five other suspects are Arman, Aswandi, Idil, Benardi and
Ahmad Rizal, alias Ical. Three of them -- Arman, Idil and Jasmin
-- have been formally charged.
Police have blamed Jamaah Islamiyah for the Makassar blast
that killed three people and the Oct. 12, 2001 Bali bombing that
claimed at least 202 lives of foreign tourists.