Two more suspects arrested for JSX bombing
Two more suspects arrested for JSX bombing
JAKARTA (JP): National Police chief Gen. Suryo Bimantaro
revealed on Monday that two more suspects had been arrested over
the bombing of the Jakarta Stock Exchange building.
At least one of the suspects is believed to be a military
officer.
The two add to the 25 earlier arrested in connection with the
bombing.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Vice President Megawati
Soekarnoputri, Suryo said the two were arrested in the West Java
provincial capital of Bandung.
He quickly stressed, however, that the military as an
institution was not involved in the bombing.
"(The military) was not institutionally involved ... but we
arrested two individuals in Bandung."
When asked whether the two were from the elite Army's Special
Force (Kopassus), Suryo said: "I haven't checked which unit, but
they are from Pidie, Aceh".
A source at the Jakarta Police said on Sunday that one of the
two was a member of Kopassus.
Suryo added that the police were still unable to fully
interrogate the two as one of them was recuperating from a
gunshot wound sustained during the arrest.
A source at the Bandung Police said later in the day that only
one of the two could be confirmed as a military member.
The source said the two were identified as Irwan, a 30-year-
old Kopassus sergeant and Ibrahim Abdul Manaf, 32, a civilian.
They were arrested at the Permata Hotel on Jl. Surya Sumantri
on Sunday afternoon and Irwan was shot as he tried to flee from
the police, the source said.
Irwan is currently being treated under tight guard at the
Sartika Asih Hospital in Bandung.
The police source also said that the two admitted that they
surveyed the stock exchange building three days before the
bombing on Sept. 13 to decide where they would plant the bomb.
It was Irwan, however, who carried out the plan on Sept. 13,
the source said.
Commenting on growing doubts over whether the 25 suspects were
the actual perpetrators, Suryo said on Monday the police "would
not make an arrest unless we are sure".
"The arrests were not only based on our belief but also based
on the facts we obtained from weeks of investigation," he said.
He said police were still unable to find evidence that former
president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra
was involved in the bombing.
"From what we have right now, the investigation still cannot
be directed at Tommy, but we are continuing the investigation,"
Suryo said.
A fortnight ago, President Abdurrahman Wahid ordered police to
arrest Tommy "to prevent stock exchange-like incidents from
happening again".
Meanwhile, in North Aceh on Monday, spokesmen for the
separatist Free Aceh Movement (GAM) Abu Sofyan Daud and Ayah Muni
flatly denied suggestions that the rebel group was involved in
the incident.
"GAM members aren't responsible for the spate of bomb attacks
in Jakarta and there is no connection between GAM and those bomb
attacks," Abu Sofyan said.
In addition to the blast at the stock exchange building, there
have been several other bombings recently, including a car bomb
explosion outside the Philippine ambassador's residence, which
killed two people.
Some of the blasts have coincided with major developments in
the corruption case against Soeharto and many have speculated
that the attacks were the work of his supporters and elements of
the security forces opposed to Abdurrahman's administration.
The accusation has been denied by Soeharto's family and
lawyers. (25/50/byg/lup)