Police hunt Irwanto's accomplice
Police hunt Irwanto's accomplice
Abdul Khalik, Jakarta
Police investigators probing the Pekanbaru bombing have entered
into a new stage of their investigations after they heard from
witnesses that Irwanto, a key witness and possible suspect in the
bombing, was not alone at the bomb scene.
Irwanto was found injured by police on Jl. Arengka, some 30
meters away from the blast site, shortly after the explosion
early on Tuesday.
"According to several witnesses, Irwanto was not alone. He was
accompanied by a person who was riding a motorcycle with him
prior to the bombing. We are hunting Irwanto's accomplice to shed
further light on the case," said the National Police's chief of
detectives, Comr. Gen. Suyitno Landung.
The new information reinforced the suspicions voiced earlier
by National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar. He told reporters on
Wednesday that Irwanto, who is critically ill and now being
treated in a hospital in Pekanbaru, was connected with the
bombing.
Substances discovered on Irwanto's clothes were similar to the
substances used in the bomb, Da'i said. In addition, he
questioned why Irwanto was at the location so early on Tuesday
morning when most other people were still asleep.
The bomb exploded in front of a shop-house on Jl. Arengka in
Pekanbaru, the capital of Riau province. Two people were killed
in the bombing, and four others severely injured, including
Irwanto. The explosion happened only hours before the Pekanbaru
district court was due to open the trial of a man charged was
involvement in the 2000 bombing of a Riau church on Christmas
Eve, raising suspicions that there was connection between the
bombing and the trial.
Separately in Jakarta on Friday, Dai told reporters that
police investigators were probing whether the bombing was
connected in any way with other bomb blasts in the country --
many of which are believed to have been the work of regional
terror network Jamaah Islamiyah.
The four-star police general also said that the Indonesian
police were working together with the U.S. Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI) in probing the case.
He said that FBI officers would help the Indonesian Police to
determine the type of explosives used in the Pekanbaru bombing,
and whether there were similarities between these and the
explosives used in other bomb attacks in the country.
The investigation into the Pekanbaru bombing was, however,
fully under the control of the Indonesian police, with the FBI
officers only giving advice where needed.
The FBI has been cooperating with the Indonesian police in
investigating a number of bomb blasts, including those in Medan,
at the J.W Marriott Hotel and the Bali bombings.