Police hunt two men in Pamulang bombing
Police hunt two men in Pamulang bombing
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Police have narrowed down their investigation into the Wednesday
bomb attack on the house of radical Muslim cleric Abu Jibril by
focusing on a witness who saw one of two men on a motorbike throw
the explosives.
Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said the witness,
identified as Edy, owned a house and a small shop in front of Abu
Jibril's rented premises in Pamulang, Tangerang.
"We think we can find out a lot of useful information from him
as he was the only person beside the housing complex security
guard who saw the two men on the motorcycle," he said.
A source close to the investigation, however, said police
suspected Edy knew more about the bombing. Police thought it was
strange he had opened his shop at 4 a.m. -- about 20 minutes
before the explosion took place.
"In those wee hours, he said he was minding his shop, not
going to the mosque for dawn prayers," the source said.
Tjiptono, however, said that police had not declared any
suspects until they could identify the two men.
He said witnesses had identified the motorcycle as a Honda
Supra and told police the man who threw the bag of explosives
wore a black leather jacket.
"We are now trying to identify the motorcycle's registration
number and are asking witnesses to try and remember the faces of
the two men. We hope we can sketch their likenesses soon,"
Tjiptono said.
Preliminary investigations showed the bomb was designed to
scare, not kill, injure or destroy property, he said.
"We don't know yet whether it was targeted at Abu Jibril to
terrorism him or served other purpose."
"We questioned Abu Jibril as a witness for several hours. We
also will give him back everything we confiscated from his house
immediately after we finish checking it. We have never said that
he had anything to do with the blast."
Tjiptono said police would also cross-check residents'
statements that several armed men were seen walking around Abu
Jibril's house earlier before the explosion.
The small bomb, which created a 20-centimeter diameter blast
crater about six centimeter deep, rocked the Palembang area but
hurt no one.
Abu Jibril, who the United States believes is one of the top
recruiters for terrorist organization Jamaah Islamiyah (JI), was
deported from Malaysia last year and spent several months in
police custody. JI is the group accused of masterminding the
2002 Bali bombings, the 2003 JW Marriott Hotel blast, and last
year's bomb attack outside the Australian Embassy.
Abu was later released after the Central Jakarta District
Court sentenced him to five and half months's jail for passport
fraud.