Police to probe Cece's death: Gen. Feisal

JAKARTA (JP): The death of a robbery suspect while in Bogor police custody will be investigated by the police, and not the military, Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said yesterday.

"This case is being handled entirely by the police," Feisal was quoted by Antara as saying.

"None of the Armed Forces members were involved," he said, dismissing rumors that Cece Tadjudin was tortured by soldiers as well as police.

"Don't make wild accusations," he warned reporters after attending a ceremony to accept six Transell aircraft donated by Minister of Mines and Energy I.B. Sudjana.

Cece, who died Monday while in police custody in Bogor, was one of two suspects arrested over a Rp 350 million ($152,000) armed robbery on the Jagorawi toll road in which one man was shot dead.

Bogor Police initially said Cece died of respiratory problems on the way to the hospital, but the claim was challenged by civil rights organizations that believed he was tortured.

A source at the PMI Hospital, who requested anonymity, told The Jakarta Post Cece was "black and blue" when his body was brought in.

"His eyes were black and swollen. There were also wounds on the back of his head and all over his body. No doubt about it. He was beaten thoroughly," the source said.

Cece was a passenger in a Hyundai Elantra car that was intercepted by a Kijang van on the Jagorawi tollroad on Oct. 11. Three men got out of the van and fired at the rear windshield.

Zainuddin, the van's driver was killed, but Cece and another passenger, Norman Lubis, survived. The robbers made off with the money but left Rp 300 million behind.

The money belonged to Zaenuddin's employer and had just been withdrawn from a BRI bank branch in Bogor.

Police later arrested Norman and Cece, accusing them of being the robbers' accomplices. Cece reportedly told police he recognized one of the robbers as an Army sergeant.

Cece's mourning relatives yesterday could still not get over his death and the crime he was accused of committing.

His elder brother, Beni, said Cece did not have a chronic illness.

Sumati, a cousin, said Cece was a devout Moslem. "He led the Koranic reading in the family," she said.

She said Cece was 41 years old, and not 39 as stated by the police. He worked in data processing at Perumnas Housing in Tangerang. "He had worked there for 16 years."

Cece is survived by his wife Tati and three children: Ratih (11 years), Sari (8) and Cicih (10 months).

Police officers, who handed over the corpse to relatives on Tuesday, said the body had been washed by the hospital so did not have to be bathed again. The officers asked the relatives not to open the shroud.

Meanwhile Bogor Police yesterday refused to comment further on the incident, saying all questions should be referred to the West Java Police, which has its headquarters in Bandung.

The chief of the Bogor town police precinct had already been removed and sent to Bandung in the aftermath of Cece's death.

"Sure he will be punished if there is evidence that he tortured the suspect," Chief of the Bogor Regency Police Col. Dadang Garnida said. (21/sur/emb)