Police plan probe into bunker mystery
Police plan probe into bunker mystery
JAKARTA (JP): The National Police will question a number of
people for providing them with misleading information, in
connection with the underground bunker found below the Central
Jakarta home of fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.
"Those to be questioned may include Tommy's lawyers and family
members. Some of them have said that no bunker existed, but when
police found the bunker, they called it an old cellar," National
Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf told reporters at National
Police Headquarters.
"The bunker is air-conditioned and very well-furnished.
Everything found inside looks brand new ... the bunker was
equipped with chairs, a table, a huge cupboard fixed to the wall,
mechanical equipment, an air-conditioner and exhaust fan."
Saleh added that whoever misled the police with "incorrect
information or lies, will be questioned."
Meanwhile, city police detectives claim that they have yet to
find a passageway leading out of the bunker and into a residence
in the Menteng area, or any other area for that matter.
"No passageway exiting the bunker to any other place has been
found. We still have to analyze what we have found," chief of
city police detectives Snr. Comr. Harry Montolalu told The
Jakarta Post.
"Today, we are bringing in the geo-radar detectors to further
investigate whether there are passages leading from the bunker."
A police source, however, said that the police had found a
passageway leading from the bunker to Jl. Cendana, in the up-
market area of Menteng where former president Soeharto and his
children reside.
Quoting an official police report on the finding of the
bunker, another source said that a hydraulic door about 90
centimeters wide and 62 centimeters long ended in steps leading
to an underground room.
"One goes up and down the elevator using an electricity
switch, but since there was no electricity ... we call it the
hydraulic door," the source said.
The underground room has a passageway leading to the east,
measuring about one meter wide and 2.7 meters long, the report
said. The passageway leads to the four-by-four meter bunker.
"The bunker contains items with excellent wooden finishes ...
whether it be the table, the chairs or the huge cupboard fixed to
the wall of the bunker. Remote buttons (connected to electricity)
grace the walls of the bunker and several mechanical devices fill
it as well. Police also found an air-conditioner and an exhaust
fan in it," the source said.
"The electricity is needed for the lighting in the room, the
air-conditioner and to operate the elevator."
The report added that the clock on the wall was still running
and showed time "according to ordinary Indonesian time, shown on
watches worn by police officers ... it showed 4:30 p.m."
As reported earlier, after two days of continuous drilling,
police officers eventually broke into an air-conditioned
underground bunker on Tuesday.
Secretary to the city police detectives chief, Adj. Snr. Comr.
Abdullah, said police spent all of Tuesday afternoon making an
inventory of what was found in the room.
"No Tommy (in there). We did find a complete kitchen set, an
exhaust fan, brand new air-conditioner, racks and shelves, tool
kits and electric lights," Abdullah told reporters on Tuesday.
Harry added that police were unable to find the switches to
turn the lights on.
There have been several reports of interconnecting bunkers
below the adjoining residences of the former first family,
located in Jakarta's plush Menteng area.
Tommy's lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon had earlier told
reporters that police were illegally breaking the floors of
Tommy's home, since the police had no warrant from any Jakarta
court authorizing them to do so.
"The police only have a search warrant. We strongly protest
this demolition and will soon take legal action," Juan had told
reporters. (ylt)