Police search for businessman's body in river

Police search for businessman's body in river

JAKARTA (JP): Acting on suspects' testimony, police detectives
on Sunday searched the Banjir Kanal River in North Jakarta to
find the corpse of a businessman believed to have been killed
late last month.

Some of the police officers even dove into the river, which
locally known as the Cengkareng drain, looking for the body of
Andrian Hamin, 32, an executive at paper producing firm PT Cipta
Karya.

According to West Jakarta Police detective chief Capt. Idham
Azis, who led the search, the search was carried out based on
testimony from the two suspected murderers, Guntur Pardamean, 27,
and R. Purba, alias Nazar, 26.

"They admitted that they robbed and killed Andrian before
throwing his body into the river and fleeing in the victim's
car," Idham said.

Recovering Andrian's body will be difficult because the
victim, according to the suspects, was dumped in the river
immediately after he was murdered on Feb. 27.

The two suspects were arrested on Thursday and Friday
respectively, following the discovery of the victim's car.

"The car was spotted by one of our police detectives parked in
front of a boarding house on Jl. Mampang Prapatan in South
Jakarta two weeks ago," Idham said, adding that police closely
surveilled the house after the discovery.

Guntur was arrested on Thursday in Bandung, while Nazar was
arrested a day later in a rented house on Jl. Petojo Binatu in
Central Jakarta.

From the suspects, police seized the victim's sedan, a small
knife, Rp 500,000 in cash and a wristwatch.

According to preliminary questioning, the two suspects lured
Andrian to an out-of-the-way location by telling the victim that
a small paper factory planned to sell its assets.

"Andrian apparently trusted the two because he accepted the
suspects's invitation to see the company without showing any
suspicion," Idham said.

The businessman began to get upset after he was driven around
Karawang, the area in West Java the suspects said the firm was
located, for hours without arriving at the expected destination.

"Guntur then cut Andrian's ear from behind while Nazar, who
was driving the car, tied the victim's hands. They beat the
suspect and finally stabbed him in the chest."

After stealing Andrian's valuables, the two suspects drove
back toward Jakarta, passing the Banjir Kanal River, where they
decided to throw the corpse.

Both suspects are unemployed.

The businessman, a father of two, was reported missing by his
family a day later. The victim's relatives believed that Andrian
may have been kidnapped.

The search for the body, which began on Saturday afternoon,
also involved five members of the police's Mobile Brigade unit,
which used a raft to comb the river.

Police reportedly consulted a psychic to help locate Andrian's
body.

"It's difficult if we don't ask him (the psychic) to help us
because the river is too wide and the depth is difficult to
measure," a police source said.

The psychic told police to use Andrian's favorite pillow in an
attempt to call his spirit.

The pillow was tied to a wooden pole which was attached to the
underside of a bridge. The police maneuvered their raft in the
area around the pillow.

"Go home Andrian, go home... ," a middle-aged woman, a close
relative of the victim, whispered repeatedly in the crowd.

Some the victim's family and relatives were also seen watching
the search from their parked cars. (emf)