Police deny arrests made in Istiqlal bombing case

JAKARTA (JP): City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman insisted on Saturday that his men had made no arrests in connection with the April 19 bombing at Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Central Jakarta.

"Who said that we've already arrested the suspects (in the blast)? The people concerned are just being questioned and have not been named as suspects," Noegroho said.

Giving no precise figures, the two-star general said that to date the people were merely witnesses in the case.

A reliable source close to the investigation said on May 8 that Jakarta Police had arrested three people for alleged involvement in the Istiqlal blast.

The city police source said the three were apprehended by a team of detectives in separate raids in Jakarta a day earlier.

He added that the three were suspected of being members of a group who planted explosive devices on the ground floor of the biggest mosque in Southeast Asia. The explosion shattered dozens of windows of at least 21 offices of Muslim-based organizations.

The source said the three men -- identified only as Srd, By and Ant -- were being detained at city police headquarters.

"Srd and By are believed to be those who planted the explosive devices on the mosque's ground floor, while Ant, with his friend, who is still at large, were waiting outside," the source said.

When asked whether the three had been named as suspects, he said: "We can arrest them and keep them here (in detention) because we have enough evidence."

Police recently said they had questioned at least 28 witnesses in connection with the crime.

They included bottled drink vendors, food-stall owners, mosque security guards and parking attendants who were in the vicinity when the powerful blast rocked the mosque on the afternoon of April 19.

"Witnesses"

According to the Criminal Code Procedure, a witness cannot be kept more than 24 hours for questioning, and investigators only have the right to detain suspects, not witnesses.

As of Saturday, reliable sources said that five of the 28 "witnesses" were still at police headquarters and faced intensive questioning from police interrogators. They were detained about a week ago.

According to Noegroho, all of the people had completed police questioning and had left the headquarters. They will be picked again if police detectives require more information from them, he added.

"We need to sharpen our clues with the information from the people, whom you call suspects," Noegroho told reporters.

Forensic scientists said in their final reports recently that the powerful blast was a bomb made from the highly explosive mixture of trinitrotoluene (TNT) and potassium chlorate (KCLO3).

Such substances are sold only to a limited number of entities, including the military and mining companies.

The reports also said the explosives were connected to a timer. (emf)