Policeman charged over church blast

JAKARTA: A middle-ranking police officer, Adj. Comr. Saleh Iskandar, who has been declared a suspect for his alleged role in last December's church bombing and shooting attacks in Palu, Central Sulawesi, will be charged with negligence causing death.

National police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said that Saleh had admitted that the gun, which was used to spray bullets into the congregation inside the church, belonged to him.

But Saleh claimed that he had not used the gun for years, and that he kept it in his house. He said that his wife might have taken the gun and given it to someone else.

Aryanto said that Saleh's wife had not yet told them to whom she gave the gun, and that police were still questioning both suspects about their role in the Palu incident.

Previously, Central Sulawesi police conducted ballistic tests on bullets found in the vicinity of the church, with the test results matching Saleh's gun. -- JP