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)