Police still have a lot of formidable footwork to do
By K. Basrie
JAKARTA (JP): Despite public appreciation and a special award from President Soeharto for their recent success in identifying and apprehending the suspects in the Bekasi gang rape, City police still have a lot of formidable footwork to do.
Among the priority cases which have yet to be solved are the killing of 23-year-old servant Djasman in September, 1993, the brutal murder of six members of the Hutagalung family in Bekasi in January last year and the murder of the six-year-old Levina Dwisy, who was found dead near her bicycle in Ancol dreamland in North Jakarta in March last year.
Others include the killing of entertainment businessman Nyo Beng Seng, who was brutally stabbed on April 15 last year in North Jakarta, the mysterious death of Themanto, 19, a new recruit of the student regiment at the privately-owned Tarumanegara University, on Jan. 29 this year in West Jakarta and the killing of a physician whose body was found in a bathroom at the Hero Green Garden supermarket in Kedoya, West Jakarta, on May 26 this year.
The recent robbery and gang rape of a mother and her two teenage daughters in Bekasi, about 30 kilometers east of the city, was solved by the Bekasi police with the strong back-up of city police in just a matter of days when police managed to arrest 11 suspects.
On Aug. 7, President Soeharto presented the Abdisatyabakti award to Captain Edward Penong, the chief detective of the Bekasi police precinct, during a ceremony at the State Palace.
Many police officials attribute the success of solving the gang rape to the strong discipline of the police personnel in concealing any information about the progress of their investigation from the press.
The rare award from the President has spurred and galvanized the police force into "greater actions" in their concerted efforts to immediately solve other cases.
Now when asked by reporters about their progress, the standard reply from police officers has become: "We're still investigating the cases."
The police have yet to announce, for example, the latest progress of their investigation on the killing of servant Djasman.
They had earlier named a number of executives of the powerful Pemuda Pancasila youth organization as suspects. Some of the executives had even been detained for several days but were later released. They have, however, been banned from leaving the country for their alleged roles in the crime.
Nationwide manhunt
In tracking down the suspect in the killing of Herbin Hutagalung's wife, sister and his four children, police claim that their detectives have questioned a great number of witnesses and went to various towns and villages in Java, Bali and Sumatra in a nationwide manhunt for the suspect, identified as Suyono, alias Gendut, a construction worker once hired by the family.
The six victims were brutally clubbed to death with blunt instruments at the family's house in Kampung Sawah, Jatiwarna village, Pondok Gede, Bekasi, on Jan. 5, 1994.
Many police detectives believe that Gendut is now living and working somewhere in Malaysia.
The murder of Levina, second of three children of an ethnic Chinese bicycle shop owner, on March 25, 1994, in North Jakarta is also still a mystery.
The dead body of the kindergarten student was found under bushes near a temple outside the former Ancol race track with her bicycle nearby. Her assailant had apparently used her clothes to strangle her.
There is no evidence that the girl was raped before her death but the autopsy report issued by the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital states that a blunt object had been inserted into the vagina of the little girl.
Local police detectives suspect the girl was murdered by hired killers paid by a lover of the girl's father.
In the case of Beng Seng's killing, police have named his main business competitor Hong Lie, 39, alias Herry Cahyadi, as the man who masterminded the murder. But police have been unable to apprehend him. He is now reportedly staying in Singapore.
Mystery also surrounds the death of Themanto, who died after taking part in a basic military training course for the university's student regiment recruits, although police have said that the alleged killer is a fellow student of the same university.
Despite police claims that the dossiers have been handed over to the local prosecutor's office, they could not explain why they have yet to detain the suspect, giving rise to wild speculations as to the "status" of the man.
The West Jakarta police are also still in the dark about the death of physician Irianto, 27, who was fatally stabbed in the back and neck in a bathroom at Hero Green Garden supermarket.
However, they believe that the motive for the killing was not purely robbery.