'TPI' cameraman murdered

'TPI' cameraman murdered

JAKARTA (JP): A cameraman of the private television network
TPI died after being stabbed outside his house in Kemanggisan,
West Jakarta, on Wednesday, police said yesterday.

The man died after being refused treatment by two hospitals,
who told his relatives that they did not have the facilities to
cope with an emergency.

Capt. Fachrudin of the Palmerah police precinct said that M.
Kamarullah bin Manaf, alias Akmal Chaniago, 40, died on his way
to Cipto Mangunkusumo hospital on Wednesday night.

The police report described Akmal as having been stabbed with
a sharp object in the left side of his chest.

The autopsy report, prepared by a forensic team of the
University of Indonesia, described the cause of the death as
murder.

Akmal is survived by his wife and a son.

Fachrudin said the perpetrators were still at large and the
authorities were still studying the motives for the murder. He
said it was possible that the murder was an act of revenge.

"We have been informed by his relatives that he didn't lose a
single thing. His wallet and personal effects were still there,"
Fachrudin told reporters at the victim's residence.

He said that Akmal was stabbed on the street just outside his
house at approximately 11:30 p.m. Wednesday.

"Nobody saw the incident because people in this neighborhood
were already inside their houses on the rainy night," said
Solihin, one of the victim's neighbors.

Solihin, a food vendor in the neighborhood, found Akmal lying
in front of his small food stall, asking for help.

According to the police, Akmal was still strong enough to get
away from his attacker. He came to the stall after he failed to
wake up his family.

The nearby Patria Ika and Harapan Kita hospitals, to which he
was rushed by relatives, refused to provide Akmal with treatment
on the grounds that they had no emergency facilities.

He died on the way to Cipto Mangunkusumo general hospital in
Central Jakarta.

Yadi, Akmal's younger brother, said Akmal was unable to speak
during the trip and did not, therefore, provide any information
about the attack.

Police Officer Fachrudin said that the police would conduct
an intensive investigation into the murder. "There's something
suspicious behind his death," he said.

He said that the police would question Akmal's relatives to
obtain more information about his daily life and what they knew
about him in the days before his death.

Among his colleagues, Akmal, who had been with the TV station
for three years, was known as a happy man who liked to chat. His
relatives, by contrast, described him as quiet. (fai/bsr/yus)