Tanjung rules out conspiracy behing general's murder
Tanjung rules out conspiracy behing general's murder
JAKARTA (JP): Armed Forces (ABRI) Commander Gen. Feisal Tanjung insisted yesterday that there is no evidence of a conspiracy behind the killing of Brig. Gen. TMF Tampubolon.
"So far, we have found no evidence that the killing had a political background," Feisal said in answer to reporters' questions prior to a ministerial meeting at the Bina Graha presidential office yesterday.
At a separate occasion, head of the City Police Headquarters, Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto told the press that four young men have been identified with the murder of the army general and been detained.
"We arrested all of the four suspects at two different residences in the same area, just about six and-a-half hours after the incident," Hindarto said.
Tampubolon, 54, was an expert staff on economic affairs to the ABRI Chief and a former intelligence deputy assistant to ABRI's chief of general affairs. He was a group commander for one of ABRI's four elite red beret Kopassus squads.
Tampubolon died at the UKI hospital in East Jakarta, half an hour after the attack at around 10 p.m. on Monday. The incident took place in front of a Warteg traditional food stall, less than a 10-minute drive from his house on Jl. Cakra Wijaya IV at the Armed Forces' Diskum AD housing complex.
Bayonet, machete
Police said that the Army brigadier general died from 11 severe stab wounds inflicted both by a bayonet and a machete.
"Nine wounds were found on the right part of his body," said head of the city police investigation unit, Col. Gunawan, who was also the chief of the special team assigned to the killing.
According to the police, Tampubolon was driving alone when one of the four, who had just left a billiards center, walked to the road and knocked on the trunk of the general's passing car.
Tampubolon stopped and asked: "What's up?", said Hindarto, to which the group responded hostilely.
"After a heated argument at the back of his car, Tampubolon was attacked," Hindarto explained.
With blood oozing from his body, Tampubolon managed to return to his car and drove to the Kebon Nanas police subprecinct, which is about a kilometer away, to report the attack, Hindarto said.
Tampubolon was then driven to the UKI hospital.
This version of events is markedly at variance from the theories of what happened presented by the police yesterday, who reported that Tampubolon had struck another motorist, moving a local crowd to anger. Others hinted that his murder had been plotted.
"That's all! Therefore, based on our investigation, there was no traffic accident or other stories, including political motives, behind the killing," Hindarto stressed.
"If newspapers had reported stories different from what we have, I'd like to advise the reporters to be novelists rather than journalists," he added.
Suspects
The four suspects are Rusdi Abdul Rahman, 24, Hendrik Setyawan, 25, Rudiyanto, 24, and Lukman, 30.
Hindarto said that Rusdi is a security guard at a private house in the area, Hendrik a construction worker, Rudiyanto an employee of a private business and Lukman a local ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver.
"Based on our latest investigation, we could say that Rusdi, the security guard, is the one who stabbed Tampubolon with his bayonet and Hendrik wounded the general with his machete," the police chief said.
According to Hindarto, the other two young men, Rudiyanto and Lukman, landed some jabs on the big body of the victim.
Hindarto revealed that Rusdi was a graduate of a vocational high school while Hendrik only finished primary school.
He said that before announcing the case to reporters, officers had confiscated Rusdi's bayonet and Hendrik's machete and crosschecked all the testimony given by nine witnesses and the four suspects.
Hindarto refused to release the names of the witnesses.
A relative of the victim meanwhile told The Jakarta Post that Tampubolon left his house in hurry after receiving a call on his handphone.
"Tampubolon's aunt, who stayed with him at the house, saw him rush to his car after the call. The number of his handphone is only known by a few number of select people," said Tampubolon's relative, who refused to be named.
Tampubolon stayed with several of his relatives at the house while his wife and some of his five children live at their house on Jl. Lembang, Bandung, West Java.
When asked to comment about the mysterious call, Hindarto said: "Please help me to find the caller."
According to the police chief, who is scheduled to leave his post this year, none of the suspects were drunk when the incident occurred.
"They drank, but they were not drunk," he said.
Gunawan meanwhile admitted that his team nabbed three of the suspects at a residence near the scene and the other one a few hours later at another house, also near the site of the killing.
Both Hindarto and Gunawan refused to clarify the exact addresses of the suspects.
However, reliable police sources told the Post that Rusdi and Hendrik, the main suspects of the killing, were staying at a friends house on Jl. Cipinang Kulon in Cipinang Besar Selatan.
The Army brigadier general was buried at the Cikutra hero cemetery in Bandung yesterday.
The suspects are now in city police detention while the general's Mitsubishi sedan, whose driver's seat was covered with blood, remains at the East Jakarta police precinct. (bsr)