Senior teacher arrested over murder of police officer

JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested yesterday the man they believe is responsible for the death of a police major, ending days of speculation about who fatally stabbed the officer.

They identified the suspect as Baskoni Wahab, 50, a senior teacher and manager of the Kagumi economics educational foundation in Cakung, East Jakarta.

Earlier rumor had it that the authorities had caught the suspect but were keeping a lid on the affair because the culprit was a powerful member of the Armed Forces (ABRI).

"The suspect was arrested this morning," head of the national police crime investigation directorate Brig. Gen. Roesdihardjo told reporters yesterday.

Baskoni was arrested at approximately 7:30 a.m. yesterday just after he got off a public transport vehicle in front of his office on Jl. Kayu Tinggi. He was apprehended by a group of plainclothes detectives, who had been waiting for him for several hours, said the head of the general crimes unit of the city police, Lt. Col. Gories Mere.

Gories said that Baskoni was believed to have planned to leave the city yesterday as the detectives found a total of Rp 9 million (US$3,850) in cash in his pocket.

Police also found that he had prepared his car for a long journey, Gories said.

According to Roesdihardjo, the murder had been a spontaneous act.

Early local media reports presumed that the suspect was a member of the Armed Forces and had already been nabbed and questioned secretly by the authorities.

Maj. Noenang Kohar, 38, was stabbed once with a knife in the lower part of his abdomen on his way home from his office on Jl. Wisma Jaya, East Jakarta, at about 7:30 p.m. last Friday.

Married with three children, the newly-appointed head of the Pademangan police in North Jakarta had only days earlier quit his former position as the head of the drugs unit at the city police headquarters.

The incident is believed to have been the culmination of a heated argument between Baskoni, who was on his way to a nearby destination in a bajaj (small three-wheeled passenger transport vehicle), and the victim, who was wearing civilian clothes and driving a Daihatsu Taft, that ensued after a slight crash between the two vehicles.

According to a relative of Baskoni, lawyer Suhana Nattawilwana, the suspect -- who he said had already told the whole story to his family -- admitted that he had shouted obscene words at Noenang after the crash and that Noenang might have been angered as a result.

While continuing driving, the bajaj driver, identified as Iwan, told his passenger that the white Taft jeep behind was chasing them, Suhana told reporters yesterday.

But Baskoni asked Iwan to keep on driving before Noenang stopped his car in front of the speeding bajaj to block their way, he said.

"The man came out of his car, rushed up to the suspect and placed a strong slap on Baskoni's face," Suhana said.

Baskoni took out his knife and stabbed Noenang once in order to protect himself, he added.

He said that Baskoni did not know that the victim was a police officer. (bsr)