Police special team to probe hospital blast

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Puzzled by recent bomb shocks, Yogyakarta Police set up a special team on Wednesday to investigate Tuesday's hospital explosion, as well as other bombs found in public places, chief Brig. Gen. Logan Siagian said.

"The team, led by chief of Yogyakarta Police Crime Investigation Unit, has 30 personnel from five police precincts," Logan told scores of journalists at his office on Wednesday.

He said police were very serious in dealing with the issue. "We believe that the hospital bombing is linked to three bombs found in a city bus and by the roadside in Bantul."

Logan referred to an active handmade bomb found in a city bus last Friday and two others found last Wednesday beside a road in Trirenggo village in the regency of Bantul.

"We will soon be able to identify whether the bombs were of the same type and whether they were made by the same person or group of people," said Logan.

Accompanied by Yogyakarta Police's Chief of Crime Investigation Unit Sr. Supt. Totok Sunyoto, Logan said that the team had so far questioned seven witnesses, including five hospital security guards, an on-duty physician and a visitor.

"Unfortunately, we still don't have the adequate information needed to find out the people behind the terror," he said.

A provisional result made by the forensic team indicated that the hospital bomb was made of chemical substances similar to those used to make firecrackers, Logan said.

"However, the forensic team also found a length of cable, a 1.5 volt battery, and a timer at the bomb scene, which leads us to believe that it was a sophisticated bomb, and was made by people who have expert knowledge about explosives," Siagian said.

Police also assumed that the three active handmade bombs found on Wednesday and Friday, were made by an organized group of people with political motives.

"They just want to create civil unrest and develop an image that the current government cannot adequately deal with security problems," said Logan. "There is a possibility that this particular group of people, who seem committed to spreading terror, might have networks with other groups outside Yogyakarta."

"All we have to do now is maintain our vigilance in order to prevent people from easy provocation, especially those who are using religion to defend their actions," he said.

In a separate interview, Sri Wahyuni Werdiningsih, Dr. Sardjito General Hospital's Head of Public Relations Department, told The Jakarta Post that Tuesday's explosion did not affect the hospital's daily activities.

"Everything just ran as usual. The activities continued normally, and nothing unusual occurred (after the explosion)," said Werdiningsih. "The hospital suffered about Rp 3 million in financial losses due to the explosion which, in large part, was for repair work to a damaged lavatory. (swa)