Police quiz man believed to know about bomb blast

JAKARTA (JP): Police have finally found and questioned a man tipped earlier by witnesses as the one who could possibly have information about the blast that rocked the attorney general's office last week, a senior officer said on Thursday.

South Jakarta Police chief Sr. Supt. Edward Aritonang refused to give any explanations about the man, such as his whereabouts at the time of the blast and what the witnesses had to say about his possible role in the crime.

Edward, a former city police spokesman, said only that the person was a civilian and the driver of a Toyota Hardtop jeep parked near the office compound.

He also refused to reveal when and where this mysterious person was found and by whom.

The man had been sought by the police, who were in the process of producing an artist's likeness of him based on information from 20 witnesses, including the nine bodyguards of former president Soeharto's son, Hutomo Mandala Putra, who had just finished being questioned at the attorney general's office when the hand-made bomb rocked the building on Tuesday evening last week.

"Since he has already been found and has been handed over to the South Jakarta police today for questioning, it's no longer necessary for us to continue making the sketch," Edward said.

Initially, the sketch of the man would have been widely distributed to the public as a suspect in the blast.

Rumors circulated earlier on Thursday that a member of the Presidential Guard had been arrested for his alleged role in the bombing and had been brought to South Jakarta Police Headquarters.

Like Edward, none of the police officers close to the investigation were initially willing to comment on the matter. But a source at the police station said the person (the Presidential Guard member) had already driven home to his residence in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, shortly after being questioned on Thursday.

Later in the afternoon, Edward said that the rumors were totally groundless, saying that the man who had been brought to the station was the driver of the jeep and was a civilian.

"He's a civilian. He was just the driver of the white Toyota Hardtop car," he said.

Edward, however, said that his investigators would, in the meantime, focus their investigation on the driver since he had made some contradictory statements.

The man said that he was with five other men in the jeep and had parked the car at the office compound only to see the blast, he explained.

"If they wanted to see the blast, why were all of them there (near the scene) inside a car?" Edward said in a somewhat confusing statement and then refused to elaborate further.

Shortly after the blast, the grounds of the attorney general's office -- located very near the busy Blok M bus terminal and shopping center -- were immediately inundated by onlookers.

Edward also refused to explain whether or not the other five men had already been identified or questioned.

But the officer said some of the witnesses saw the five leave the jeep before the blast occurred.

"We are still investigating the case. It is too early to say whether any military personnel were involved," he said, referring to a morning paper report on Thursday which identified the suspect as being an ex-member of the Presidential Guard.

No fatalities were recorded when the blast ripped through the building.

Hutomo, better known as Tommy Soeharto, was questioned at the office as a witness over the purchasing of 144 hectares of land in Citereup subdistrict, Bogor, West Java, for the establishment of the large Sentul Circuit.

Police said earlier that none of Tommy's nine bodyguards, all police or military personnel, were involved in the blast.

The homemade bomb exploded in a bathroom in the office compound. A day later, another explosive device bearing the distinctive military-one (M1) code was also found on the second floor of the building.

In Bandung, Army spokesman Brig. Gen. F.X. Bachtiar said on Thursday that the Army has searched the records concerning the distribution of such bombs among its units and found that none of the bombs were unaccounted for.

"We have checked the distribution and flow of all types of explosive devices. Most of the explosives have been used in field exercises, simulations or classes and the rest are still in the arsenals," Bachtiar said without elaborating further.

"We will continue to coordinating with the police and support their investigation into this matter," he said. (asa/25/edt)