Three men arrested inpolice raid on hotel room

JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta Police detectives raided a hotel room in Menteng on Monday morning following a tip that four men in the room were in the possession of bombs.

While the police did not find any bombs, they arrested the three men for the illegal possession of weapons. The police described these weapons as 10 steel rods with sharp, star-like figures on the ends.

"If you throw such a rod at a person it could do very serious damage," the Central Jakarta Police chief of operational control, Comr. Paulus Waterpauw, told The Jakarta Post.

Police also found black clothing in the room and a walkie- talkie. Paulus added that police also seized a Toyota Kijang van and a Toyota jeep belonging to the suspects, a pair of scissors and a bag containing clothes, books and diplomas.

"We have been instructed by our superiors to turn over the case to the city police," Paulus said.

He identified the suspects as Asep Saifulloh, 38, who resides in the Babakan Ciparai subdistrict, Bandung, West Java; Akhmad Paradis, 37, a resident of Batu Ampar, Condet subdistrict, East Jakarta; and Agus Julianto, 32, a customs office employee who lives on Jl. Bangka V in the Mampang district, South Jakarta.

"Jakarta Police are now looking for a fourth suspect who fled ... allegedly with bombs, but we have no confirmation of that," Paulus said.

Police identified this fourth suspect as Fakih Munandar, a resident of Mampang, South Jakarta.

The Central Jakarta police chief of detectives, Comr. Angesta Romano Yoyol, said all four suspects were in the hotel room, but minutes before the police raid at 9:30 a.m. Fakih left the hotel in a taxi.

He added that the room was registered to a man identified only as Suripto.

Meanwhile, the Lebak Police in Banten have named four suspects in connection with 10 bombs discovered by residents of Margajaya in Cimarga district, Lebak regency. The bombs were found in Lake Pelayangan.

The Lebak Police chief of detectives, Second. Insp. Bambang Irianto, said the four suspects were employees of the West Java office of the Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Bambang identified the four suspects as Erwin Hamzah, Suhada Artadipura, Budi Rahardja and Tatang Supriatna.

"The four told my officers that they made the bombs for a geophysical test. The four are expert staff in the inventory division of the mineral resources directorate at the mines and energy ministry office in West Java," Bambang told the Post on Monday.

Police arrested Erwin and Suhada on Friday, while Tatang and Budi surrendered themselves to the Lebak Police on Sunday.

The Central Bandung Police chief of detectives, Second Insp. Suwondo, said on Monday the four men were part of a geological team conducting "seismic tests" in Bojong Manik village in Cimarga district.

"They said that they finished the tests but then did not know where to discard the remaining bombs they had made ... police are investigating the possibility that they acquired the bombs, including the explosive material, from some other party.

"The four are hiding behind a permit reportedly issued by the ministry to conduct the tests," Suwondo said. (ylt/25/01)