Two men arrested over killing of schoolboy

Two men arrested over killing of schoolboy

JAKARTA (JP): Two men suspected of killing and dumping the
dead body of a junior high school student before stealing the
victim's new motorcycle were arrested yesterday.

The incident allegedly took place two weeks ago near the
Ragunan Zoo, South Jakarta.

The suspects, Rohidin, 19, and Aris Nugroho, 16, were arrested
at their respective houses around 11 a.m. yesterday by the Pasar
Minggu police detectives following a report from the Bogor
police, who seized the stolen vehicle by chance in a routine
operation on Sunday.

On being questioned, the two admitted to having attacked and
strangled Abdul Gafur, 16, and throwing his body in mud near a
garbage site on Jl. Saco, near the zoo.

A number of detectives and police forensic experts rushed to
the scene and removed the decomposed body of Abdul Gafur, who
apparently was a close friend of the two suspects. The victim
lived with his parents in Bogor, West Java.

Gafur's father, Tian, confirmed that the remains were of his
son, whom he had reported missing since Aug. 22 to the Bogor
police.

At the scene, the police also found school uniforms, shoes and
a T-shirt strongly believed to be Gafur's, and bricks allegedly
used by the unemployed suspects to beat the victim with.

Citing preliminary police investigation, City Police Spokesman
Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna told reporters yesterday that the killing
and robbery was plotted by Rohidin, who planned to sell the Rp 4
million Yamaha Force 1 motorcycle for his wedding.

According to Iman, Rohidin and Aris met Gafur, who was heading
home from school, around 2 p.m. on Aug. 22.

Gafur was a third year student of the SMP Borobudur, which is
located close to the zoo.

"As they had known each other well, the two suspects asked
Gafur to take them on his new bike," Iman said.

A few minutes later, one of the suspects asked Gafur to stop
at a lonely spot near the zoo, where they allegedly killed the
school boy, said Iman.

"I strangled him with his school tie," suspect Aris was quoted
as saying by a detective. Rohidin is believed to have fatally
beaten the victim with the bricks.

Knowing that Gafur was dead, the two then threw the victim in
the mud nearby, said officer Iman.

Another version

Yesterday's arrest of the homicide suspects has another
version.

Spokesman Iman quoted the head of the Pasar Minggu police sub-
precinct as saying that it was his detectives who seized the
motorcycle from Rohidin's house at Kampung Utan in Ragunan.

"Gafur's father came to the Pasar Minggu police at around 10
a.m. this morning to report, on reliable information from
someone, that his son's motorcycle was seen at Rohidin's house,"
Iman said.

"Based on this tip, the Pasar Minggu detectives rushed to the
suspect's house and arrested him and seized the bike," he said.

However, a reliable source said that Gafur's father, Tian,
came to the sub-precinct yesterday morning along with a Bogor
police officer and the victim's motorcycle.

"The motorcycle was detained last weekend in Bogor for not
having proper documents," the source said on condition of
anonymity.

Based on the documents available, a Bogor police officer came
to Tian's house for further investigation about the ownership of
the motorcycle.

"The real story starts here," said the source. (bsr)