Police Conduct Forensic Testing on Attacker's Helmet in Acid Attack on Kontras Activist

The Directorate of General Criminal Investigation (Ditreskrimum) of the Metropolitan Jakarta Police is employing scientific crime investigation methods to identify the perpetrator of an acid attack against Andrie Yunus, Deputy Coordinator of Kontras. The primary focus of the investigation is on fingerprints and DNA traces believed to have been left by the attacker on objects at the crime scene.

Investigators are currently conducting forensic laboratory testing on a helmet discovered at Jalan Salemba I, Central Jakarta. In addition to the helmet, police are also testing a container suspected of being used by the perpetrator to store hazardous chemical liquid during the attack on Thursday evening.

Brigadier General Police Iman Imanuddin, Director of the General Criminal Investigation Directorate of the Metropolitan Jakarta Police, stated that this approach is expected to shed light on the profile of the perpetrator through biological evidence.

“We are conducting forensic laboratory testing on evidence found at the crime scene, including a helmet and a container believed to have held the chemical liquid. We are very hopeful that the test results will be productive, whether we discover fingerprints or DNA belonging to the perpetrator on the helmet,” said Iman at Metropolitan Police Headquarters on Monday (16 March).

Iman emphasised that to date, police have not made any arrests or taken any coercive measures against anyone. He stated that investigators are continuing to gather evidence and facts based on analysis of CCTV recordings from around the crime scene.

“To this day, we have not taken any coercive action. We are still continuously gathering legal facts based on CCTV analysis and communication networks that we have obtained,” he explained.

Previously, Andrie Yunus was attacked with acid by an unknown individual in the Salemba area of Central Jakarta on Thursday (12 March) late at night. At the time, Andrie was travelling after completing a podcast recording on remilitarisation criticism. As a result of this attack, Andrie Yunus sustained serious burn injuries to his face, eyes, chest, and both hands.