Police reveal reason why bombs discovered

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)