Two suspects arrested for Manado blast
Two suspects arrested for Manado blast
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The police have apparently arrested two suspects in the bombing
incident at the Philippines consulate in Manado, North Sulawesi,
following a series of questioning, a high-ranking officer said on
Tuesday.
North Sulawesi Police chief Brig. Gen. I. Lebang said the two
were among seven people questioned by the police after Saturday's
bombing, which was apparently coordinated to go off around the
same time as the devastating bombs in Bali.
He however refused to reveal their nationalities, only saying
that they were in their 30s, with the initials IND and JS. They
are currently in detention at the Manado police headquarters.
However, Lebang also refused to provide further details or the
place where the two were arrested by the police.
"The two suspects are still undergoing thorough interrogation
to find out who the mastermind was behind the bombing incident,"
Officer Lebang said as quoted by Antara.
The arrest was welcomed by the Philippines embassy in Jakarta,
praising the police for their investigative work.
The world was shocked on Saturday when at least four bombs
went off almost simultaneously, one in Manado, two in Kuta, Bali
and one in Denpasar near an American consular office. Manado and
Bali have long been perceived as the safest areas of the country
amid social and religious upheaval in hundreds of other areas.
No casualties were reported in the Manado attack, which
happened moments before the Bali bombings that claimed at least
180 lives and injured more than 300 people.
However, the people of Manado, mostly Christian, were dismayed
by the incident as it was the first time the city was under such
a threat, even during the volatile last 4 years in the country,
in which dozens of bomb attacks have occurred.
Lebang said that so far the police did not know whether to
link the two suspects with known terror networks or to the
carnage in Bali, as the investigation was still ongoing.
In a related development, the Indonesian Navy has increased
its surveillance in the waters between Indonesia and the
Philippines following the latest bombing attacks.
Commander of the sixth Navy fleet, based in North Sulawesi,
Commodore Kenny Welong said on Tuesday that due to the escalating
situation, the Navy would carefully assess the possible threats
in the area.
He said that the Navy had assigned two warships in the border
areas, with the regular duties of preventing illegal fishing and
other transnational crimes.
However, following the bombings the surveillance had to be
intensified, the commodore added.
The waters between North Sulawesi and Southern Philippines are
one of the most prone for the illegal arms trafficking, from the
Muslim separatists in the Philippines to the Indonesian sectarian
conflict areas in Maluku and Poso.