Police HQ bomb same as Kota disco device
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Some of the explosive substances used in Monday's bomb attack on Wisma Bhayangkari at the National Police Headquarters, South Jakarta, bore similarities to those found at the Eksotis discotheque in Jakarta last year and in the Christmas 2000 bombing in Medan.
"From the blast site, we collected evidence, including sulfur, nitrate, black powder, a timer, small fragments of steel bars and wires. Based on our analysis, the explosion was similar to the bombing at Eksotis discotheque last year and the Christmas bombing in Medan in 2000," said city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo.
However, he declined to say whether the similarity between the substances necessarily implied that Monday's bombing was perpetrated by the same people.
The police bomb squad defused 10 bombs in abortive bombings on churches across Medan, North Sumatra, on Christmas Eve 2000. Each package contained 3.5 kilograms of sulfur as the main explosive substance.
Meanwhile, two bombs exploded in Jakarta last June. One, outside Eksotis discotheque, seriously wounded two victims, Hadi Suhadi, a buyer shopper? and Ihin Solichin, the owner of a food stall nearby. Another blew up in the car park of Jayakarta hotel on Jl. Hayam Wuruk, West Jakarta, destroying three vehicles but no injuries were reported.
On the same day, two other bombs were also found separately in the parking lot of Sarinah shopping center in Central Jakarta, and in front of Hayam Wuruk Plaza, West Jakarta, where 1001 discotheque is located. Neither bomb exploded.
The police are still in the dark about the perpetrators in each of these cases.
Prasetyo said the police were still interrogating six it was five yesterday witnesses at the city police headquarters, but he confirmed that none was a key witness who might lead them to the main suspects.
Similarly, National Police chief of detectives for general crimes Insp. Gen. Erwin Mapasseng said police were still investigating materials found at the blast site, including fingerprints on the package containing the bomb.
Although the police have not yet found any suspects, they hinted that parties resentful of police success in investigating terrorism networks might have been behind the bombing.
"This has happened for the first time in the history of the police. Only since we started to wage war on terrorism have we received such a terror attack. It (the bombing) must have been carried out by a group that resented police success," said Prasetyo.
He added the bombers were quite careful not to leave any significant evidence or witnesses at the blast site in order to make it that much more difficult for the police to solve the case.
Police have, thus far, identified a number of groups as being behind a string of bombings in the capital, including the Free Aceh Movement, Hutomo "Tommy" Soeharto's henchmen, groups affiliated to suspected terrorists Hambali and Imam Samudra, adventurer groups and other groups that had yet to be identified by the police, Prasetyo said.
Following the blast, which ripped through the lobby of Wisma Bhayangkari, located in the same compound as the National Police Headquarters, the police beefed up security checks on Tuesday on incoming cars at most of their premises.
"We are simply trying to ensure that the public can continue to benefit from our services in comfort and safety -- just in case there are other attacks," said Prasetyo.