'Tommy gave me bombs': Suspect
JAKARTA (JP): Police revealed on Sunday that a woman arrested here on Friday in the possession of three bombs, admitted that not only did Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, the fugitive son of former president Soeharto, give her the bombs, but also taught her how to operate them.
East Jakarta Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Agus Irianto told The Jakarta Post that 33-year-old Elize Maria Tuwahatu, alias Baby, revealed that she learned about each bomb component and how it worked from Tommy in a 40-minute car ride around the Menteng area, Central Jakarta, last Sunday.
"From the information she has provided us with, he is definitely still in Jakarta," Agus said.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf told reporters on Saturday that, based on their preliminary investigation, there are some similarities between the bombs found in the possession of Elize, who was arrested in Taman Mini Indonesian Indah (TMII) recreation park in East Jakarta, and those which exploded on Christmas Eve.
Saleh said Elize admitted to meeting with Tommy, who has been in hiding for three months, on Jl. Cilacap in Central Jakarta on Jan. 14.
He said Elize, accompanied by an acquaintance, Lisa, arrived at the meeting in a Timor sedan to receive the bombs and three checks for Rp 25 million (US$2,632) each from Tommy, who arrived in a Kijang van.
Elize said she cashed the checks carrying Tommy's name and signature, at two separate banks the following day, Saleh said.
"At that time, Tommy's accounts had not yet been frozen. We will check with the banks on Monday."
Attorney General Marzuki Darusman said on Friday all of Tommy's accounts at Indonesian banks had been frozen by the central bank.
Police also took into custody Elize's mother Sonya and her driver, following a raid on her house on Jl. Suwiryo in Menteng, located near houses belonging to the Soeharto family.
During the raid, police seized firecrackers and documents that Saleh said might lead to an investigation into Tommy's possible involvement in the Christmas Eve bombings in seven cities, including Jakarta, that claimed at least 18 lives.
President Abdurrahman Wahid ordered Tommy's arrest for his alleged role in the bomb blast at the Jakarta Stock Exchange building in September last year. Tommy, 38, denied he was involved in the bombing and was never arrested.
Tommy was later sentenced to 18 months in prison for graft.
The police said each of the three bombs seized on Friday were destined for three separate locations: the Attorney General's Office on Jl. Sisingamangaraja, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Directorate General of Taxation on Jl. Gatot Subroto, all in South Jakarta.
According to the police investigation of the TMII bombs, one of the plastic bags contained seven sticks of dynamite weighing a total of 2.1 kilograms, a five-liter can of thinners, a switch, a dry cell, two detonators and 150 nails.
The other bag contained two packages. One contained eight sticks of dynamite, a can of thinners, a watch that functioned as a switch, a dry cell, a detonator and steel nails. The other contained two sticks of TNT, a watch that functioned as a switch, and a dry cell.
A source close to an independent team investigating the Christmas Eve bombings said on Friday that Elize bore a resemblance to a woman described by witnesses, who is believed to have planted a bomb at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Matraman, East Jakarta.
Police have arrested six people in connection with the bomb attacks.
Psychic
Saleh said the arrest of Elize was made based on information provided by a psychic identified as Agung Yulianto, alias Ki Joko Bodo.
Police sources said Ki Joko, a resident of Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta, was approached by Elize four days before her arrest.
"Elize told me that if I succeeded in demolishing the three buildings on Friday afternoon, she would introduce me to Tommy, who would hand me Rp 1 billion as my payment, and award me with many more bombing contracts," the source said, quoting Joko's statements to the police in the dossiers.
Ki Joko, who claims to be one of dozens of psychics used by Soeharto, told his friends, including a police officer, of Elize's offer.
Meanwhile in Bandung, West Java, police officially named on Saturday six new suspects in the Christmas Eve bombings, identified only as NA, AH, YAY, NAN, ODC and KAR, provincial police detective chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sardjono said.
The six men knew exactly where and what Haji Aceng and Iqbal, the two main suspects in this case, were doing at that time and helped the two hide, he said. (ylt/jun/25/edt)