Police question Tommy's escorts over bomb blast

Police question Tommy's escorts over bomb blast

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta police detectives have so far
questioned 20 people, including nine bodyguards of former
president Soeharto's son, Hutomo Mandala Putra, as witnesses in
connection with last week's blast at the Attorney General's
Office, an officer said on Wednesday.

Based on the preliminary investigation, all of the bodyguards,
who are active police and military personnel, were freed from all
possible charges, chief of the police's precinct detective unit
Sr. Insp. Achmad Alwi said.

"We have examined their fingerprints and compared them with
those found in the lavatory rooms (where the blast took place)
and on the second bomb, which was not exploded," he told
reporters.

The results of the investigation deemed that the nine
bodyguards of Hutomo, better known as Tommy, could not be named
as suspects in the case, he said.

"The other 11 witnesses were civilians, including five staff
members at the Attorney General's Office," Achmad said.

The bomb blast occurred sometime after Tommy was questioned at
the Office on Tuesday last week.

Tommy was questioned as a witness over the purchasing of 144
hectares of land in Citereup subdistrict, Bogor, West Java, for
the establishment of the vast Sentul Circuit.

As usual, Tommy was escorted by several of his bodyguards,
mostly dressed plainly with something seemingly hidden under
their clothes.

It remains unclear whether the police and military bodyguards
are members of the Presidential Guard or whether they are hired
by Tommy from their respective forces.

Chief of the South Jakarta Police Sr. Supt. Edward Aritonang
said the police have to question them since they were around the
area when the blast took place in the afternoon.

"The 20 witnesses might have seen something or somebody
suspicious during the blast," Edward said, adding that his men
have so far made no significant progress in their probe.

The police, he said, were now concentrating on making a sketch
of the suspect, which would be distributed to the public later.

"Based on the information given by witnesses, our men have
been making a sketch of the suspect using a computer," Edward
said.

According to officer Achmad, the sketch was mainly based on
the information disclosed by two witnesses, who admitted to have
seen a person driving a car that was parked at the compound.

Police believe that the car may have been used by the suspects
to place the bomb at the office.

"However, one of the witnesses is still ill, making us unable
to complete the sketch," Achmad said.

But officers did not give any information about the appearance
of the person in the car, as described by the two witnesses.

The home-made bomb exploded in a bathroom in a building at the
Office's compound on Tuesday and shocked the nation, which was
already unhappy with the actions of the political elite and with
the country's economy.

No fatalities were recorded but a day later, another explosive
device, said to be a more powerful one, was found on the ceiling
of the second floor bathroom of the same building. The second
bomb was found in a location exactly above the previous blast.

The second bomb was marked with a distinctive Military-One (M-
1) code.(asa)