Police release seven Palopo bomb suspects

Police release seven Palopo bomb suspects

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

All seven persons questioned over the Palopo bombing have been
released as the police found no proof of their involvement in the
incident, a senior police officer said on Saturday.

Sr. Comr. Andi Nurman Thahir, spokesperson for the South
Sulawesi Police, said that they had to be released because they
had strong alibis.

He said that the seven were questioned after the police found
that they resembled the suspects' sketches made by police
investigators.

"The police are authorized to summon and detain suspects for
24 hours for the purposes of the investigation. The police will
set them free, if they (the police) find no proof of their
involvement in an incident," he was quoted by Antara news agency
as saying.

The police are still intensively hunting for the perpetrators
of the bombing in Palopo.

The bomb blast occurred late on Jan. 10 in a cafe in South
Sulawesi province's regency of Palopo at about 10:30 p.m. local
time.

Four people were killed in the incident and three others were
injured.

Palopo Regency deputy police chief, Comr. Wisnu Widarto,
recently said the bomb was believed to be a low explosive.