Police reveal reason why bombs discovered

By Yogita Tahil Ramani

JAKARTA (JP): It was God's hand that guided police to Elize Maria Tuwahatu, an alleged acquaintance of fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra who was arrested with three bombs in her possession at Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) on Friday, a police detective has claimed.

"This (arrest) would not have happened without God's guidance. He probably acted via Ki Joko Bodo," East Jakarta Police's chief of detectives, Adj. Comr. Agus Irianto, told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Elize's arrest was the result of a tip by a 38-year-old psychic identified as Agung Yulianto, better known as Ki Joko Bodo.

Joko, who the suspect heard of from a magazine, was asked by Elize, alias Baby, 33, to plant the three bombs, Agus said.

The officer said that after being contacted by Elize, Joko went to the East Jakarta Police on Wednesday and told them Tommy had targeted for death Attorney General Marzuki Darusman and Minister of Industry and Trade Luhut Binsar Panjaitan.

"Joko told me that he was an activist in 1983 in Yogyakarta. One day some officers from a certain command arrived at his house and tortured him, particularly damaging his legs. He still has the marks.

"Joko believes that those officers were sent by the family of former president Soeharto to intimidate him physically. His elder brother was killed ... and the body has never been found. It is his belief that the Cendana family (the Soehartos) was behind this. He cried when he told me this story," Agus said.

Agus said Elize knew nothing of Joko's past. "She just picked Joko's name out of a mystery magazine ... she had no idea whatsoever that Joko, who she handpicked to plant the bombs at buildings in Jakarta, believes his family went through so much pain because of the Cendana family."

A source at East Jakarta Police Headquarters said one bomb in Elize's possession was meant for the Attorney General's Office "to take out Marzuki Darusman". The second was to be planted at the Ministry of Industry and Trade to kill Luhut Panjaitan, and the third was meant for the Directorate General of Taxation for "shock therapy".

"Elize told me that if I succeeded in destroying the three buildings on Friday afternoon she would introduce me to Tommy, who would give me Rp 1 billion (US$105,263) as payment and give me many more jobs planting bombs," the source quoted Joko's statement in a police dossier.

"I fooled Elize into believing that I was interested (in the job). With the first Rp 10 million she paid me, I bought a cellular phone that cannot be tapped. The very next day, I called the police and told them of her plans."

A university graduate, Joko told police officers he first met Elize, a former treasurer of the Republican Party, when she came to his psychic clinic in Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta, asking him for help her make her seafood restaurant a success.

"She came again ... to ask me if I could transfer some goods for her. She said these goods were bombs. The third time she came, I asked her who had told her to transfer the bombs. She just stood there quietly," Joko told the police. "I pushed her to give me the name, and she said Tommy."

Last Tuesday, Joko visited Elize's residence and during that meeting Elize gave him Rp 10 million.

"She wanted to give me the bombs that day. I refused to take them and told her that I would take them in three days. I reported her to the police and the Attorney General's Office. Soon, she called me again and we agreed to meet at the Yogyakarta Hall of TMII at 10 a.m.

"She wanted to give me the bombs during that meeting, and I again called the police."

Agus said that from 2 a.m. on Friday, 120 undercover detectives and intelligence officers spread out across Taman Mini as they waited to nab Elize.

"Some pretended to be gardeners, some street cleaners ... I myself acted like a reporter, with a camera in hand. Elize arrived at the park in a taxi," Agus said.

"When Joko saw her, he put on his cap, which was a signal to us that she had arrived. She told him to take the bombs from the trunk of the taxi and put them in his car. He refused and told her to do it herself .... She did it, and we arrested her." (ylt)