Police still questioning bus crash suspect

Police still questioning bus crash suspect

JAKARTA (JP): North Sumatra police are still questioning a man
they suspect of having been the driver of a minibus that crashed
fatally in Jakarta last month

Hornas Silitonga has been in detention at the Dairi police
precinct in Dairi regency since his arrest on Monday.

On Wednesday a team of North Jakarta police arrived in Dairi
to question Hornas, who they believe is Ramses Silitonga, the
registered driver of the Metromini which crashed into the Sunter
river in North Jakarta on March 6, killing 33 passengers.

The driver of the bus, who was seen leaving the seen and
identified at a Jakarta hospital hours later, has been on the run
since.

"The team is still questioning the suspect to crosscheck all
the data on him," Col. Hari Susanto, National Police spokesman,
said yesterday.

Earlier on Wednesday the Jakarta police strongly denied
reports that Hornas was the fugitive driver. One of the reasons
behind the denial was because his appearance does not match a
photograph of Ramses in the possession of the Jakarta police.

When asked whether the differences could be written off to the
fact that the picture of Ramses is ten years old, Hari only said
"I don't know yet."

It is believed that the Dairi police have made the same
mistake the Tambun police in Bekasi did, who arrested a local
man, tortured him until he confessed to the crime, and then where
forced to release him on March 26.

The arrests are due partly to the inadequate information on
the suspect outside of Jakarta. Until yesterday the North Sumatra
police did not have all the information on Ramses.

A spokesman of the North Sumatra police, Lt. Col. Leo Sukardi,
earlier announced that Hornas was in great shock at the time of
his arrest. Leo also said that Hornas worked as a substitute
driver for PT Metromini, although he does not have a driver's
license. The suspect does own a PT Metromini membership card.

The Dairi police have not given up their efforts and are still
checking whether Hornas, who comes from North Tapanuli, and lived
at Jl. Manggarai I No. 8, South Jakarta, is their man.

The Dairi police claimed they made the arrest after a man, who
identified himself as Simbolon, reported that Hornas was the
wanted driver.

"If he is not our man, it is possible that Simbolon made the
report for certain reasons," said a source at the Dairi police
precinct.

Until yesterday the police had questioned 15 people in
connection with Hornas's arrest. (bsr/lem)