Police close in on murderer of senior officer
JAKARTA (JP): Police said on Saturday they were close to catching the man who murdered Maj. Noenang Kohar MS, chief of the Pademangan police subdistrict in North Jakarta, on Friday night.
The city police have mobilized hundreds of detectives to hunt for the man who fatally stabbed Noenang on Jl. Wisma Jaya, Central Jakarta, at approximately 7 p.m. on Friday.
"We have abundant information about the suspect," a senior police officer, who declined to be named, told The Jakarta Post.
"We have been trying to stop him from fleeing Jakarta and want to arrest him as soon as possible," the source said.
Maj. Noenang, 38, the newly-appointed head of the Pademangan police, was stabbed by a passenger of a bajaj (small three- wheeled passenger transport vehicle) on his way home from his office.
So far there has been no detailed official account of the incident. There have been press reports that the incident was the culmination of an argument that ensued after Noenang's jeep brushed the bajaj.
The officer, wearing civilian clothes, is said to have stopped and spoken with the driver of the bajaj, which was carrying one passenger.
According to police sources, the passenger -- whom eyewitnesses described as a "well-built" man -- was upset about the delay caused by the accident.
The sources said the suspect shouted obscene words at the police officer.
Offended, Noenang eyeballed the angry passenger and approached him only to be stabbed in his abdomen.
The passenger then fled the scene, as did the bajaj driver. Police have not yet determined whether the driver helped the suspect run away.
Police sources refused to reveal whether they had found the bajaj driver, obviously a key witness in the case.
The dying officer was then helped by bystanders and immediately rushed to the nearby Persahabatan Hospital. However, he died less than 30 minutes later.
On the basis of preliminary investigations, the murder is not considered to have been politically motivated. Indeed, police are saying it had nothing to do with Noenang's position. One police source acknowledged that it was unusual for a person to commit murder over such a minor argument.
Noenang, married with three children, quit his position only last week as head of the drugs unit of the Narcotics Division of the City Police Crime Investigation Directorate.
Police sources declined to comment on suggestions that the suspect had killed Noenang because the officer had been rude to him.
Friday's murder is the second time a policeman has been murdered in Jakarta this year. In March, a police officer was murdered by street criminals at the Blok M shopping center. The incident prompted the police to embark on a massive operation against suspected street hoodlums.
Several hours after Noenang's death, high-ranking police officers, including National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman Astrosemitro and City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo, rushed to the hospital to convey their sympathy to his family.
Noenang was buried on Saturday in the Cikutra public cemetery in Bandung, West Java.
His 38th birthday cake, from the day he was killed, is being kept by his family at their house in the Mobile Brigade police housing complex in Cipinang Atas, East Jakarta. (bsr)