Police Discover Chemical Substances in Mosque Explosion in Jember
A joint police team from East Java’s Regional Police Headquarters discovered several chemical materials following the investigation of a crime scene following an explosion that occurred at Masjid Raya Pesona located in the Pesona Raya Regency housing complex, Patrang village, Jember Regency, East Java, on Tuesday.
“We need to exercise care and not rush the investigation to ensure accurate results because there is suspected presence of chemical substances at the location, so the evidence collection process requires special equipment, requiring both care and precision,” said East Java Regional Police Chief Inspector General Nanang Avianto during a press conference held at Jember Police Station.
According to him, a combined team comprising Bomb Disposal Unit (Jibom), Forensic Laboratory Team (Labfor), and General Criminal Investigation Division (Reskrimum) was working to process the crime scene at the explosion location to investigate the incident.
“Although there were no fatalities in this incident, we continue to investigate to determine what caused the explosion and procedural measures have been implemented,” he said.
He explained that police had secured and sterilised the explosion site to prevent residents from approaching it by establishing a police cordon, then processed the crime scene involving the combined team and collected evidence.
When asked what specific evidence had been secured, Regional Police Chief Nanang declined to provide detailed answers as all teams were still working to investigate the cause of the explosion, but all items found around the explosion site were being treated as evidence.
“We have also interviewed several witnesses from around the location who witnessed the explosion, and coordination with relevant agencies including the heads of the neighbourhood units (RT and RW) has been conducted,” he said.
He stated that scientific analysis would determine the cause of the explosion following further investigation of the case, and his office had also secured CCTV footage from around the mosque to provide leads to investigators.
“The presence of liquid in jerrycans is still under investigation and preliminary indications suggest the explosion originated from an iron cabinet. We cannot yet say when the crime scene processing results will be released, but East Java Regional Police is working as quickly as possible,” he said.