Six suspects held over Istiqlal blast

JAKARTA (JP): Police have apprehended six people for their alleged roles in the April 19 blast at the Istiqlal Grand Mosque in Central Jakarta, National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi said on Thursday.

"We're currently detaining six people and preparing the dossiers to be submitted to the prosecutor's office," National Police chief Gen. Roesmanhadi said at a media briefing on the general election.

In an unusual display of reticence, the police chief refused to provide further details.

Roesmanhadi told the media to obtain the information from chief of detectives Maj. Gen. Da'i Bachtiar.

"My detective chief will explain it to you," he said.

Da'i in turn told the media to talk about the matter with Jakarta Police officers.

He then went off to find Jakarta Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Sutanto, who was the only senior police officer at the meeting at National Police Headquarters.

The runaround continued when the media were told Jakarta Police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman would hold a special press conference to reveal further details later in the afternoon.

The anticipated media conference did not eventuate.

It remains unclear why the officials refused to disclose information concerning the arrests of the suspects, who allegedly were responsible for the blast in the largest mosque in the region.

There was speculation the officers were reluctant to expose the matter because of the religious element in the case.

A source close to the investigation later said the six detained people included student activists and a scavenger.

The blast on the ground floor of the six-story mosque generated widespread speculation regarding the motive behind the explosion. A political motive was one theory put forward by observers.

At least 28 people have been questioned as witnesses in relation to the blast in a bid to identify two men suspected of planting the bomb, who entered the mosque compound on an RX-King motorcycle.

Earlier, police released the results of laboratory examinations on the chemical ingredients of the explosive devices.

The powerful blast which shattered windows of at least 21 offices of Muslim-based organizations at the Mosque was reportedly caused by a bomb containing the highly explosive mixture of trinitroluene (TNT) and potassium chlorate (KCLO3).

Explosive substances are only sold to limited industries, including the military and mining companies.

Early last month, Jakarta Police detectives reportedly arrested three suspects, identified only as Srd, By and Ant.

They said that four other suspects were still at large.

One of the four wanted criminals was a key suspect in the crime and was said to be hiding in the East Java capital of Surabaya. (emf)