Police pursue mastermind behind Gunawan's foiled escape

Police pursue mastermind behind Gunawan's foiled escape

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Makbul Padmanagara revealed on
Thursday that police were "pursuing the mastermind" behind the
foiled escape on Tuesday of defendant Gunawan Santosa while en
route from Salemba Penitentiary to the North Jakarta District
Court.

He did not provide any further details on the matter.

Makbul also said that the police had yet to find the source of
the .32-caliber Beretta pistol, three sets of handcuffs, a
cellular phone and Rp 35.92 million (US$4,177) in cash that were
seized from Gunawan.

Jakarta Police chief of detectives Comr. Matheus Salempang
said 20 witnesses of the incident on Jl. Pangkalan Asem, Central
Jakarta, had been questioned.

He said the witnesses, several of whom were ojek (motorcycle
taxi) drivers, said they heard a gunshot and saw a pistol at the
scene of the attempted escape.

Gunawan was being escorted to the North Jakarta District Court
to stand trial for the premeditated murder of his ex-wife's
father, president director of PT Aneka Sarana Bakti (Asaba)
Boedyharto Angsono, and Boedyharto's off-duty Special Armed
Forces (Kopassus) bodyguard when he tried to escape.

He was only accompanied by two personnel from the North
Jakarta Prosecutors' Office and a driver in the paddy wagon, but
no police escort.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo said the North
Jakarta Police had received two letters on separate days from the
prosecutors' office requesting police escorts for transporting
detainees.

"North Jakarta Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Djoko Susilo
claimed that he received a letter dated March 29 only at 2:15
p.m. on Tuesday, just hours after Gunawan tried to flee,"
Prasetyo said. "A courier from the prosecutors' office delivered
the letter."

The letter requested the North Jakarta Police to guard 55
defendants on their way to court. The letter was composed on a
manual typewriter and signed by Krisna Pramono, chief of general
crimes at the prosecutor's office.

North Jakarta Police also received another letter dated March
26 that requested a police escort for transporting Gunawan to
court on April 1. The letter, however, was produced on a computer
and signed by chief of the prosecutors' office Muhammad Salim.

"A police escort had been requested for Gunawan, but
unfortunately the letter arrived too late," Prasetyo said.

Gunawan is being treated for a bullet wound at the Soekanto
Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.

Police claimed that Gunawan pointed a gun at one of the
prosecutor's office personnel accompanying him inside the paddy
wagon and ordered the man to uncuff him. They scuffled and the
pistol went off, hitting Gunawan in the midriff.

Police said the three suspects -- Sukrisman, Padmawinata and
Dadang of the North Jakarta Prosecutor's Office -- did not search
Gunawan before putting him into the paddy wagon.

But the police version differed from that of eyewitnesses at
the scene of the crime, who said they saw Gunawan fall out of the
vehicle and was knocked unconscious when his head hit the
asphalt.

They also saw that he was not handcuffed and he was not
bleeding when they took him to the nearby health clinic. The
police later came and took Gunawan away.