Police identify a suspect in Atrium bombing

By Natasysya Ehm Ehm The Jakarta Post in Jakarta

The wife of one of the Jakarta Stock Exchange bombers was declared a suspect by police on Tuesday in connection with last Sunday's bombing of Atrium Plaza.

Aznani, whose husband Tengku Ismuhadi is serving a life sentence at Cipinang Penitentiary in East Jakarta, is currently being detained at Jakarta Police Headquarters.

Some of Aznani's statements made during police questioning were obscure and police suspected that a receipt from a car deal, involving the sedan in which the bomb was placed, had been made following the bombing.

"During questioning, we learned that many of her facts didn't add up. There are many irregularities concerning the car's sale," Jakarta Police spokesman, Anton Bachrul Alam told reporters.

Aznani (not Isnaeni as mentioned on Monday by one of her lawyers, Johnson Panjaitan) sold a Ford laser sedan to Ramli on Sept. 19 as instructed by her husband from behind bars.

Ramli is the owner of a second-hand car showroom in the Kebon Jeruk area of West Jakarta.

Aznani had been questioned by police not long after the bomb exploded.

One of her lawyers, Ecoline Situmorang from the Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI), said Aznani was merely carrying out her husband's order.

"She was told by Tengku to hand over the car even though Ramli was only going to pay for it in October.. she didn't know and didn't suspect anything," Ecoline said, adding that Ramli had been a longtime friend of Tengku Ismuhadi.

Atrium Plaza has been targeted for bomb attacks twice over the past two months. The first was in August, seriously injuring six people.

Police have caught 14 people involved in the first bombing, including Dani, a Malaysian and Abas, who claimed to be members of a Jihad group, whose leaders, Hambali and Samudra, currently reside in Malaysia.

As for the second bombing, police suspect the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) as the mastermind as Tengku Ismuhadi was believed to have had close connections with the movement.

Meanwhile, Atrium Plaza has resumed its normal operations starting on Monday, though, with added security.

People crowded the shopping mall, as if they had forgotten the bomb blast just days ago, according to a receptionist at the mall.

"Atrium is crowded as usual, I didn't notice any decline in the number of visitors," she said.

Since 1999, there have been 38 bombing cases nationwide.

The police claim to have uncovered 31 cases, while admitting that they are still in the process of tracking down those who were involved.

The police have identified four masterminds behind the spate of bombings nationwide, namely GAM, the Jihad group that Dani and Abas are members, Hutomo Tommy Mandala Putra, or other individuals.

All the bombing cases were related to one of these groups or individuals, police said.