Textile factory owner found dead in his own office

JAKARTA (JP): The trussed and battered body of the owner of a textile factory was found in his office in Cibitung, Bekasi on Monday morning.

Sugiarto, alias A Ling, 40, who owned PT Karang Buana Indah textile manufacturer, was found dead by one of his office boys at about 7 a.m. with both of his hands and feet tightly bound with plastic rope while his head was covered with a red cloth, an officer said.

No stab wounds were found on his body and local police believed that the victim had been repeatedly hit in the head with blunt objects.

One of his relatives believed that A Ling was killed by former workers who had been dismissed a few weeks earlier.

Maj. Sgt. Tarmizi of Cibitung police sub precinct, quoted the office boy, identified as Bambang, as saying that he was about to clean his boss's room that morning when suddenly he was surprised at the discovery of the corpse of A Ling.

"He was just about to open the door of the office when suddenly A Ling's dead body fell in front of him," Tarmizi said.

He, however declined to give further details and only said that the discovery of A Ling's body at his office on Jl. Raya Jababeka was still under thorough investigation.

A resident of Kemandoran, West Jakarta, A Ling, father of four children, was a hard worker, his relatives said.

"He rarely went home. Instead, he spent most of his time at his factory," Eli, one of his relatives, told reporters at the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Eli and the victim's other relatives were there to obtain clearance for A Ling's body, which was admitted to the hospital for a post mortem examination.

According to Eli, the relatives still had no idea about the possible motives of A Ling's killers.

She quoted some of his employees as saying that there were at least four security guards on duty at the factory that night.

"But the whereabouts of the four are still unclear," Eli said.

"They perhaps have already been questioned by the police. But I strongly believe that they were not the murderers," she said, giving no further explanation.

Eli, however suspected that the killing was committed by some of the factory's former employees, dismissed by A Ling a few weeks ago.

According to her, the factory recorded a massive dismissal of dozens of its employees several weeks back due to deteriorating financial conditions.

Some of the dismissed employees might resent their fate, she said.

When asked about a possible robbery, officer Tarmizi only said that there were as yet no reports of missing valuables from the victims' relatives. (emf)