Police nab owner of 450kg of potassium
Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
Bogor Police arrested on Friday the suspected owner of 450 kilograms of potassium chlorate seized by police from a Suzuki Carry van on Jl. Caringin Raya on Thursday afternoon.
Police detectives chief Adj. Comr. Ferdi Sambo said the suspect, identified as Komar, was arrested in his home in Bojong Sawah, Kebon Pedes district, Sukabumi regency, West Java.
"Although his home is close to the home of suicide bomber Heri Golun, who died in the recent bombing in front of the Australian Embassy, we have yet to determine any link between him and Heri," Ferdi said.
Police identified Heri as the suicide bomber who perpetrated the Sept. 9 blast outside the embassy, which killed 10 people and injured over 180 others, based on the result of DNA tests.
Komar told police investigators that he had a firecracker business, Ferdi revealed.
The police also discovered 18 sacks of firecracker paper, each weighing 50 kilograms, in his home, as well as a half a sack of small firecrackers, half a sack of charcoal and other materials usually used to make firecrackers.
"We are still tracking down Komar's accomplice somewhere in Parung Kuda district," he said.
Komar and his unidentified accomplice jumped out of their van and fled the scene, leaving Komar's driver, Maulana, behind the wheel, when they saw policemen carrying out a security check on motorists.
The police are conducting random checks under the operation Pekat 2004, a short form of Penyakit Masyarakat (society's diseases), to clamp down on illegal gambling and trade in alcoholic drinks during the fasting month of Ramadhan.
Earlier, Maulana told the police investigators that they had purchased the potassium chlorate in Tangerang. They were heading to Sukabumi when their car was stopped by policemen.
Police have been intensifying their hunt in West Java for the bombing suspects, who remain at large, following a small blast late last week at a rented house in Cianjur regency. There, police confiscated two backpacks of explosive devices, but failed to arrest the four suspected owners of the explosives.