Suspected Jl. Sabang bomb blast mastermind arrested

JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta Police have arrested the suspected mastermind of a bomb blast which damaged the vacant Ramayana department store on Jl. H. Agus Salim, also known as Jl. Sabang, in Central Jakarta on Jan. 2.

City police chief Maj. Gen. Noegroho Djajoesman told reporters on Saturday that the alleged mastermind was identified as Rosalina, 50, a director of a real estate agent.

Noegroho said police had detained Rosalina and one of her accomplices, identified only as L, 34, at city police headquarters for further investigation.

No information was available as to when Rosalina and her accomplice were arrested.

"We are now looking for the alleged bomb-makers and other possible accomplices," Noegroho said as quoted by Antara.

He explained that one of the men believed to be involved in the bombing, identified as AM, was in hiding on Madura island in East Java.

Noegroho said the motive behind the explosion was to plant fear in the mind of the land owners, following a simmering dispute between the owners of the land where the three-story department store stands and the real estate agent after the latter failed to persuade the land owners to sell their plot.

A police source close to the investigation said that Rosalina reportedly paid Rp 125 million to four people to carry out the bombing as part of her terror tactics to scare the land owners.

It is believed she was to make the plot available for state Bank Dagang Negara.

In the incident, three bombs -- similar in size: round, 10 centimeters in diameter and five centimeters high, each with a fuse -- were planted at different spots. Only one of them exploded.

The two bombs which failed to detonate were rushed to the National Police bomb squad Gegana's headquarters in Kelapa Dua in East Jakarta for identification.

A source on the squad disclosed that the bombs were assembled professionally and the bomb-makers used the flammable toxic compound trinitrotoluene (TNT), which is only available to the Armed Forces (ABRI).

The compound sells for a high price on the black market.

As reported, a bomb expert speculated about the motives and the actors behind the bombing. He said the bombs cost more than Rp 75 million, far too high a price for merely terrorizing the land owners.

He said 10 kilograms of TNT could be bought on the black market for Rp 20 million. (emf)