Six suspects held over Istiqlal blast

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)