Student detained for throwing bomb

JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested yesterday a 24-year-old student suspected of throwing two Molotov cocktails at the security post of Governor Sutiyoso's official residence in Menteng, Central Jakarta, on Monday night, an officer said.

City police detective chief Col. Gories Mere said the suspect, identified only as Dino, 24, was apprehended at a relatives' house in Bintaro, South Jakarta, at 5 a.m.

"The suspect was spotted by the governor's security guards when he returned to the site in the same Suzuki Escudo vehicle from which he threw the Molotov cocktails a day earlier. He was carrying an air rifle.

"Soon after the guards spotted the car, they called the police. We followed him carefully because the guards informed us that he had a rifle," Gories said.

Police traced the car's plate number and found the owner's address on Jl. Depsos Raya 24 RT 08/01, Bintaro, South Jakarta.

"From there we also crosschecked information from witnesses of the incident. That is why we were sure and continued the pursuit.

"Eventually we captured him at the house. We are still interrogating him," Gories told a media briefing.

When asked to comment on the arrest, Sutiyoso said, "Thank God... I will thoroughly relinquish the case to the police to handle it. I have no idea why the person did such thing."

Sutiyoso said he would not ask security guards to tightly guard his house after the incident.

"I have become accustomed to being threatened like that... I don't think I have any enemies. I have surrendered to God for my safety," he said.

The police officers confiscated the Suzuki Escudo along with the air rifle as evidence. "The suspect is being detained at Menteng Police Station," Gories said.

The motive for Monday's attack was still vague.

Up until the announcement of the arrest, Dino, who reportedly was a Trisakti University student, had not confessed to anything.

When asked whether Governor Sutiyoso would be questioned in relation to the case, Gories just smiled.

"Come on, he was sleeping when the incident happened," Gories said. (ind/edt)