Police still in the dark about Beng killing

Police still in the dark about Beng killing

JAKARTA (JP): Police are still in the dark about the April
slaying of businessman and gambling "lord" Nyo Beng Seng due to
the absence of substantial material evidence at the scene of the
crime.

"So far we have only discovered a scabbard of a samurai blade
at the scene which bears no words that might give as a clue to
the murderer," North Jakarta police chief Lt. Col. Heru Susanto
told The Jakarta Post and Republika yesterday.

"There were no substantial clues at all either on the scabbard
or at the scene which could lead us to uncover the slaying," he
said.

According to him, the scabbard is similar to those sold at
many shops here.

"We found no finger prints and the key witness of the murder
could not identify even one of the five masked murderers," Heru
added.

He, however, pledged to continue the efforts to uncover the
mystery surrounding the murder and capture the five unidentified
men and parties strongly believed responsible for the killing of
Beng Seng, a well-known figure among local gamblers and gambling
operators overseas.

Beng Seng, alias Darmansyah Suyadi, 57, was stabbed on April
15 by at least four masked men in front of his second wife's
mansion at Jl. Pluit Kencana Raya 128 in North Jakarta.

Police found a total of 12 stab wounds on his body.

Other evidence

Besides the scabbard, the police also confiscated one of the
victim's cars and a pair of black sandals at the scene.

Heru still believes that the killing was plotted by the
victim's competitors in both the local and overseas gambling
business.

Previously, Beng Seng's second wife, Tuty, told the police
that on the way to the hospital, his husband had mentioned two
names, Hong Lie and A Lay, as the men who hired his assailants.

Hong Lie is believed to have been a main competitor of Beng
Seng in the business of arranging junkets for Indonesian gamblers
to places such as the Portuguese colony of Macao, the Genting
Highlands in Malaysia, Perth in Australia and Hong Kong.

A Lay is believed to have been Hong Lie's right-hand man but
lately he has reportedly branched out on his own.

"It's true that Beng Seng had problems with the two, but we've
found no proof, so far, to name A Lay as a suspect of Beng Seng's
killing," he said."But we strongly believe that the motive for
the murder is the gambling business."

The key witness of the case is Beng Seng's 45-year-old driver,
Saman. He was driving his employer home from the Mangga Besar
area in West Jakarta when four masked men, wearing black clothes,
followed their car up to the yard of the house.

During police questioning, Saman said that he was still in
front of the steering wheel when the men stabbed his employer,
who had just got out of the car.

"The driver could not provide clear descriptions of any of the
murderers," Heru said. "He only said that three of them were
burly and well-built."

Heru concluded, however, that the professional murderers were
hired by the plotters of the killing.

He refused to comment on the latest progress of the police
investigation but said that one or more of the plotters are now
abroad and that some others are in Indonesia.(bsr)