Police get clues in case of murdered officer

JAKARTA (JP): Police investigating the death of mobile brigade officer First Sgt. Witono have uncovered several clues after questioning witnesses and reconstructing the murder.

The reconstruction of Witono's death was done Friday night at the crime scene on Jl. Susilo in Grogol, West Jakarta.

A police source said yesterday a bullet case was found at the scene. It is believed to have come from the same gun which was used to kill Witono.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang confirmed Friday's reconstruction yesterday, but declined to comment on the finding of the bullet case.

"We have done the reconstruction and questioned eye witnesses. We are still investigating the case," was all he would say.

Witono, 27, was killed Friday morning after two people slashed his left hand with a machete and shot him twice in the stomach.

He was on an official assignment escorting an employee of a private company, PT IMC, transporting two kilograms of gold bars from Pasar Grogol to Roxy Mas in West Jakarta.

Witono, who was not wearing his uniform, was driving a motorcycle with the IMC employee, named Sonny, on the back, the police source said.

The criminals did nothing to prevent Sonny from running away soon they had shot Witono, the source said.

A criminologist from the University of Indonesia, Adrianus Meliala, said that the death of Witono had in some way proved that many criminals were no longer afraid of the police.

"The police's efforts to guard companies or people during the transportation of their valuables does not scare criminals or stop them from robbing the owners or even hurting the police," Adrianus told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

It also proved that the police cannot guarantee the safety of either pedestrians or drivers, he said.

Adrianus said that securing the transportation of valuables by driving a motorbike together with a company employee who carried the valuables was incorrect because the officer was in a difficult position if the unexpected were to happen.

He said that Witono's attackers must have been very skillful in being able to shoot the police officer in such a difficult situation, hinting that they might well have been trained marksmen. (cst)