Police in the dark about Slipi blast
JAKARTA (JP): The police said on Thursday that Wednesday's explosion under the Slipi flyover in West Jakarta was caused by a light explosive, but they had no clue on the motive behind the blast.
Deputy chief of the National Police Forensics Laboratory (Puslabfor) Sr. Comr. Dudon Setia Putra told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the blast was caused by a light explosive.
Other sources at Puslabfor and city police said that the cause of the blast was a Korean-made hand grenade.
"It was a hand grenade, thrown out of a truck," a city police official told reporters on Thursday.
The blast occurred at about 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday when an object was reportedly thrown out of a truck crossing the Slipi toll flyover. The object exploded and injured at least 14 people. No fatalities were reported.
Five victims were being treated at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital. They are Samadi, 29, Suparmin, 30, Togar Budi Sugianto, 23, Andi Lala, 16, Romadon, 12.
City police and West Jakarta Police have seized three trucks and questioned at least 22 people, including victims of the blast, but are still in the dark about the blast.
"Six of the 22 being investigated might become suspects. But we are still investigating and cannot say anything for sure," West Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Iwan Nurisman Ismet told reporters.
Iwan identified the six people who might become suspects as Kohar, Yasin, Dani, Ari, Paiton and Sarwono, all of whom were either truck drivers or their assistants.
He added that the registration numbers of three trucks seized following Wednesday's blast were still being investigated.
"Of the three, one of the two East Java numbers has become our top priority for investigation," Iwan said.
Wednesday's blast was the 14th major bomb explosion in the capital within the past six months.
Separately, City Governor Sutiyoso suggested on Thursday that a special intelligence team, comprising military and police officials, be established for hunting down bombing suspects.
"Military and police officers should be involved in the team. I believe that the masterminds behind the recent bombings are living in the capital," Sutiyoso told reporters.
Sutiyoso, former Jakarta Military commander, said certain units in the military, which have special skills, could be asked to monitor bombing activities and trace suspects.
He acknowledged that such a team would need funding for its intelligence operations and promised that the city administration would help fund the team.
"Such a team is badly needed. The city administration will support this considering the high frequency of bombings here," Sutiyoso said.
He blamed lack of funds and manpower for the police's failure to solve a number of bombing cases in the capital.
The governor promised that the city would expedite the disbursement of Rp 1 billion (US$89,250) in funds per quarter to help city police finance its operations to secure the city.
"We know that police need money to secure the city. We will help them," Sutiyoso said. (ylt/jun)