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)