Police identify killer in East Java's PKB murder
Police identify killer in East Java's PKB murder
Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
After months of investigation, the East Java Police are closing
in on the suspected murderers of National Awakening Party (PKB)
member Asmuni in Lumajang, East Java, with one suspect being
identified.
"After analyzing all the evidence and questioning three
suspects and 61 witnesses, we have been able to identify the
characteristics of one of the killers," said National Police
deputy chief of public relations Brig. Gen. Soenarko.
He named the suspect as Lora Ansori from Yosarati village in
Jember, East Java. He is 30 years old and has a round face and
long hair.
"We suspect him of killing Asmuni in November in Lumajang,"
Soenarko said on Tuesday.
Police also arrested, on Saturday and Sunday, three people
suspected of helping the killers. The three have been identified
only by their initials: AG in Surabaya and SY and IS in Jember.
Eyewitnesses said six people entered Asmuni's house.
Soenarko said police had identified Lora Ansori as one of the
six men seen at the scene of the murder and expressed hope that
the police would capture him shortly so that light could be shed
on the motive.
"We put the name of this man on our wanted list today. We are
still trying to identify the other five people. If we manage to
capture Lora Ansori, we can quickly arrest the others," said
Soenarko.
The police earlier detained two other suspects and questioned
61 witnesses in connection to the case.
Six masked men armed with machetes hacked the cleric Asmuni to
death after they broke into his house in Jatiroto subdistrict on
Nov. 27. His wife, Siti Mutmainah, survived but was seriously
wounded in the attack. She remains in hospital.
PKB executives believe the incident was politically motivated
to terrorize party members in East Java, its main stronghold,
ahead of the 2004 general election.
The claim has been supported by reports that PKB clerics in
several regencies in East Java, including Gresik and Jember, had
received death threats from mysterious callers.
However, police have said Asmuni's murder was not politically
motivated, even though they are still investigating the case.
Soenarko also underlined that the case was a criminal one, but
the police are still trying to figure out the motive of the
murderer.
"The police consider this a criminal case. What makes a case
different is motive. Since we haven't captured the suspects we
still have to view this case as a pure criminal case, not a
political one," said Soenarko.
However, he reiterated the police's promise to solve the case
as quickly as possible because much progress had been made over
the past two weeks.