Police kill bomb suspect, nab two more

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

North Sumatra Police said on Wednesday they had shot dead an Aceh separatist and captured two others, including the ringleader of the group alleged to have planted two bombs in the provincial capital.

Police also revealed they were searching for a third bomb made by the group, which was still hidden somewhere in the city.

The two suspects arrested on Tuesday night included Marzuki, the alleged mastermind of the attacks and a long-time fugitive wanted for a spate of incidents in the province.

The other suspect was identified as Usman, while his accomplice, M. Nur, was shot dead by the police as he tried to escape during a raid in Belawan district, near Medan.

Medan Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Maruli Siahaan said Nur had been arrested in Belawan but tried to flee when police officers were transporting him in a car.

"The police were then forced to shoot the suspect to weaken him and slow his escape. He died from serious bleeding while being brought to Pirngadi Hospital."

Nur's body was being kept at the hospital, Maruli said.

The three suspects were rounded up at their rented house on Jl. Yacub, Medan.

They were charged with a bombing near the Amplas junction on Jan. 5 on Jl. Sisingamangaraja, he said. No one was injured in the blast, which took place in an empty house.

They were also believed to be responsible for another unexploded bomb, which was found hours later at the nearby Sukaramai market, Maruli said.

Police said the two pipe bombs were identical in their manufacture.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Mardi Rukmianto, who heads the antiterror team with the North Sumatra Police office, said the three suspects were captured following the earlier arrests of their six accomplices -- Abdul Samat, 24, Syaifuddin, 31, Syaifullah, 30, Anwar, 20, Idris Roni alias Pek Ri, 58, and Tengku Usman, 28.

Two of the six suspects had confessed to detonating the homemade bomb at the Amplas junction and planting another bomb at the Sukaramai market, Mardi said.

They told police of the existence of a third bomb in Medan before they were arrested.

"We are trying to find where the third bomb is being kept. The police believe that it is being stored by Marzuki," he said.

On Tuesday, Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Bagus Kurniawan said the six suspects confessed to planning the attack on the orders of Marzuki, the Free Aceh Movement (GAM) leader for North Aceh.

Marzuki was also allegedly involved in the 2003 blast at the Medan mayor's office.

That blast was believed to be masterminded by Medan Deli's GAM leader Abdul Wahal, Bagus said.

He said police believed Abdul Samat and Syaifuddin were also involved in many other bombings in East Aceh.

Police had sufficient evidence to prove all six suspects were GAM members, he said.

Syaifuddin, interviewed by The Jakarta Post on Tuesday, admitted to have been involved in the blasts in East Aceh and Amplas but denied he was a GAM member. He said he took part in the bombings for money.

Another suspect, Anwar, told a similar story, saying he was given Rp 100,000 by Marzuki after planting the bomb at the Sukaramai market.