Police trace Samudra's network
Police trace Samudra's network
Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar
The joint team investigating the Bali bomb attacks are examining
the contents of a computer belonging to blast suspect Imam
samudra, in attempts to trace his wider terrorist network.
Inquiry team spokesman Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang said here
Thursday that the computer's files had been copied for detailed
examination by experts at National Police headquarters in
Jakarta.
"This investigative process also will reopen documents that
were already erased," he said.
The computer was seized from Imam Samudra's home in Serang,
Banten province, shortly after the alleged Bali attack field
commander was arrested by police as he attempted to cross to
Sumatra from Java.
Experts from the National Police cybercrime department and two
experts from the Australian Federal Police (AFP) will sift
through the laptop's data.
The computer files are expected to reveal Imam's wider
network. Police believe the Bali blasts that claimed about 200
lives are linked to a number of terrorist acts that have rocked
the country in the last three years.
Police are still seeking those behind Samudra and other
suspects who played a field role in the bombing. Samudra has been
described as the field commander of the Bali bombing while
Mukhlas, believed to be regional operations chief of Jamaah
Islamiyah in Indonesia, was the controller of the attack.
The AFP's computer experts used special equipment to "clone"
all files, including those previously deleted, directly from its
hard disk to ensure the process would not damage the existing
files, to be used as police evidence.
Although the process to copy the computer already started last
Wednesday, the team said they could not yet reveal the contents
of the files.
"This process is virtually new for us, therefore we should
complete it very cautiously and carefully. The entire contents of
the files have yet to be studied further and therefore we can not
announce it today. Imam Samudra has acknowledged that the
computer belonged to him," Aritonang said.
Chief investigator Insp. Gen. I Made Mangku Pastika said the
process had been executed perfectly.
"Technically, the process must be precise in order to avoid
any damage which could be used by the suspect to deny the
contents," Pastika said.
The investigative team have also found a formula for
increasing a bomb's power and details of police techniques at a
house rented by the alleged controller of the Bali bombing,
police said Thursday.
"That document is filled with detail about how to make a bomb,
including how to process potassium chlorate to increase its
explosive power," Aritonang said.
The document was written in Melayu and was suspected to be
from Malaysia, he said.
On Wednesday Aritonang revealed that documents, including
handbooks on how to make car bombs and poisons, were seized last
week by detectives from a house rented by a man called Mukhlas in
Solo, Central Java.
He said police also seized books on Jemaah Islamiyah and its
"military academy" book.
Australian police have said they believe the chemical chlorate
caused the massive explosion outside the Sari Club in Bali's Kuta
tourist strip on Oct. 12.
Quoting from the document, Aritonang said potassium chlorate
"is a low explosive, but can be increased to (the equivalent of)
80 percent of TNT. It is not sensitive to friction, but if it has
already been mixed will result in a big explosion."
Aritonang, as quoted by AFP, also said a document detailed
exactly what steps police would take after an explosion, such as
sealing off an area. It talked about who they would investigate
and how they would investigate the explosive residue.
"That document is in accordance with the English police
standard. The standard is the same in Indonesia," he told a press
conference.