Police nab owner of 450kg of potassium
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.