Police seek evidence linking bombing, bank raids

Muninggar Sri Saraswati and Suherdjoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Semarang

Police are currently seeking evidence as to whether the JW Marriott Hotel bombing was financed by money stolen in May from a bank and a money changer in separate incidents in Medan, North Sumatra, as claimed by a suspect.

National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Erwin Mappaseng told a press conference on Wednesday that one of the 11 suspects in the robberies claimed that he gave some Rp 5 million (US$588) out of the takings "to finance his group's activities".

The suspect, identified as Tony Togar, was arrested in the Riau capital, Pekanbaru, early in June.

Four robbers, led by Tony, managed to get away with Rp 133 million in cash from a branch of Lippo Bank in Medan on May 6. Two security guards were killed in the robbery and police have yet to arrest the other perpetrators although they claim they already have sketches of them based on descriptions provided by eyewitnesses.

Tony is also believed to have been behind the robbery of tens of thousands of dollars from a money changer in Medan in June.

The police, Erwin said, believed that the money was partly used to finance the Marriott bombing.

This confession, however, raises questions as earlier Asia's most wanted terrorist suspect, Hambali, who was arrested in Thailand, was said to have transferred $45,000 to a Malaysian, Lili, in June. Lili was also believed to be in Thailand at that time.

Lili then transferred the money to Idris, who was arrested by police in June, and is currently in the custody of the Thai police.

Idris has been declared a suspect, along with 10 others, in the Marriott bombing on Aug. 5 that killed 12 people and wounded 147 others. He is also believed to be the one who recruited Asmar Latin Sani and Tohir, the alleged perpetrators of the bombing.

That Asmar died in the blast was confirmed after police conducted a DNA test on some body parts found at the scene, while Tohir is still on the loose.

The Bali bombings were also financed by the takings from robberies. These blasts in the tourist resort of Kuta on Oct. 12, 2002, killed 202 and injured around 300 others.

One of the suspects, Imam Samudra, who is currently standing trial, was said to have robbed a jewelry store in Banten to finance the bombings.

"These people believe that they did fa'i (in perpetrating the robberies)," Erwin said.

Fa'i refers to the group's belief that they were not stealing from others but only claiming their rights.

Another suspect, Amrozi, was given the death penalty by Denpasar District Court on Aug. 7.

The police are still searching for Malaysians Dr. Azahari and Noor Din Mohd Top due to their alleged involvement in the Marriott bombing.

Azahari, believed to be an active bomber, and his accomplice Dulmatin, have been on the police's wanted list for their role as the bombmakers in the Bali bombings.

In Semarang, Central Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Didi Widayadi said that the authorities had closed some 10 bank accounts belonging to unidentified people for alleged involvement with unidentified terror network in the province.

Didi did not name the banks.

He said that the police have detected that those accounts have been used by the network to save money allegedly obtained from several robberies against bank clients across Central Java.

"Our preliminary investigation reveals that the money was used for terrorism," Didi told reporters after the signing of MoU between the police and Bank Indonesia representative in Semarang over bank protection.

Didi said that the police have yet to trace where the money disbursed to as "Mr. X (the robbery mastermind) has yet to be arrested".

There were a total of 39 robberies against bank clients recorded from 2002 to Aug. 2003 in 16 towns in Central Java. Police estimated that the robbery gang has 39 members. The robbers have killed three people and injured 12 others during their operations.

As many as 10 of the robbers have been arrested while three were shot to death by police, Didi said.

"The police must act resolutely against robberies. The raiders often shoot indiscriminately, so the police must be faster," said Didi, adding that police officers were permitted to shoot raiders if necessary.

Moerdjono, a BI representative, admitted that some banks had inadequate security equipment, and frequently employed unqualified security guards to protect their premises.

"I've heard that many of them have no training as security guards," he said.