Police hopeful of solving Beng Seng murder

JAKARTA (JP): Police said yesterday they see the light at the end of the tunnel in the Beng Seng murder.

They expect to be able to arrest all of his attackers along with the person who plotted the killing of the entertainment businessman Nyo Beng Seng, who was stabbed to death seven months ago.

In a hearing with members of the House of Representatives, National Police Chief Gen. Banurusman revealed that the arrest of three remaining suspects, including the plotter, "is just a matter of time".

On Thursday evening, senior detectives of the City Police Crime Investigation Directorate arrested two people believed to have been played a significant role in the killing of Beng Seng on April 11 this year.

The two, identified as Sudartono, 40, and Agiono, 36, were captured upon disembarking from a Singapore flight at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport.

City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto, who accompanied Banurusman at the hearing, said that there were actually three suspects on the plane.

"The other one apparently saw the arrest of the two and decided to hide inside the plane's toilet and later flew back to Singapore via Bali," Hindarto said.

He refused to identify the suspect.

The two suspects, who are now under intensive interrogation at the city police headquarters, are to be taken to the scene of the murder to reconstruct their roles in the killing. Hindarto would gave no precise date for the re-enactment.

During preliminary questioning, the two suspects said that they were assigned by someone to guard the area while the assault took place.

Beng Seng, alias Darmansyah Suyadi, 57, was savagely stabbed 12 times in the middle of the night on April 15 this year by at least four masked men in front of his second wife's mansion at Jl. Pluit Kencana Raya 128 in North Jakarta.

Banurusman said Singaporean police officers assisted in the arrest of the first two suspects.

"Under the good cooperation with the Singaporean police, we could then arrest these two suspects," he told the House members.

Neither Banurusman nor Hindarto gave any explanation concerning why the two suspects had been in Singapore.

Many police sources believe that the two were asking for payment of Rp 200 million (US$91,530) from the plotter.

"We're still investigating the possibilities," Hindarto said. (bsr)