Two men identified as Palopo bombers
Two men identified as Palopo bombers
Andi Hajramuni, The Jakarta Post, Makassar, South Sulawesi
Police have identified two men believed to have been responsible
for the bombing in Palopo, some 400 kilometers north of Makassar,
which killed four people on Saturday.
After questioning 17 witnesses on Sunday, the police produced
sketches of two men who left the crime scene just 15 minutes
before the explosion ripped through the Samppodo Indah cafe.
"The two men were identified as the last people who had sat at
the table where the bomb was placed. They left the crime scene
just 15 minutes before the explosion," Luwu police precinct
deputy chief Adj.Comr. Wisnu Widarto said on Sunday.
However the men had yet to be declared suspects.
Wisnu said that the sketches would not be published and
refused to describe the men, saying that the sketches would only
be used by the police to stop the men from leaving the province.
According to the witnesses, the two men had visited the cafe
on the past two weekends, but unlike other guests they never
stayed long.
The two men came again on Saturday night and sat at table No.
11 near the door. Witnesses said they only ordered drinks and
left without finishing them.
The explosion was heard up to two kilometers away. Most of the
customers fled the cafe by the back door before the police
arrived.
The low-explosive homemade bomb killed four people and injured
three others.
The deceased were identified as Abdul Rahman, 26, Ambo, 30,
Sumarni, 39, all residents of Palopo, and Suratman, 27.
The injured were two waiters -- Arif, 20 and Esy, 21 -- and
another man identified as Awal Dulla, 19, who is still in
intensive care at Sawerigading Hospital.
Wisnu said that bomb resulted in a 30-centimeter rent in the
wooden floor. The police suspect that the bomb was placed under a
bench.
The police said that they had no idea as yet what the motives
behind the bombing of the entertainment spot on Bone Bay might
be.
The police have questioned witnesses, including the owner,
waiters and guests of the cafe, who were at the scene when the
explosion occurred.
South Sulawesi Police chief Insp. Gen. Jusuf Manggabarani
arrived at the location on Sunday and immediately set up an
investigating team that includes antiterror officers and forensic
experts from National Police Headquarters.
The province has suffered a series of terrorist attacks in the
recent past, as well as riots between villagers and between
military and police personnel.
On Dec. 5, 2002, a bomb ripped through a McDonald's outlet in
Makassar, South Sulawesi, killing three people.
Sixteen defendants were sentenced to jail terms ranging from
two years to 18 years for this attack. One defendant, Kaharuddin
Mustafa, was acquitted of all charges.
However, the alleged masterminds of the McDonald's bombing,
Agung Abdul Hamid and Anshar Daeng Salam, remain at large.
This and other bomb attacks, like the Oct. 12, 2002, Bali
bombings and the Aug. 5, 2003, JW Marriott hotel bombing in
Jakarta, have been blamed on the Jemaah Islamiyah network.