Witnesses quizzed over bombing of AG's Office
JAKARTA (JP): Police have questioned nine witnesses over the bomb blast at the Attorney General's Office compound last Tuesday, which caused some minor damage to a lavatory on the ground floor of the five-story office building of the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes, an officer said on Monday.
"Based on testimonies of the nine witnesses, the police are now investigating the whereabouts of two suspects, who allegedly installed the explosive device," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Dadang Garnida told reporters on the sidelines of a graduation ceremony for students of the National Police Officers' Advanced Course (Selapa Polri) in South Jakarta.
The one-star general said the witnesses testified that two people, with backpacks, were in the office's compound during the blast.
"We cannot tell you whether the two were civilians or military personnel," he said, while hinting that the nine witnesses were all civilians.
Dadang, however, did not rule out the possibility that the witnesses were involved in the case.
"We will verify fingerprints found at the spot with the nine witnesses' fingerprints," he said.
Dadang said police were also tracing the parties who allegedly distributed the bomb from the state-owned weapons manufacturer PT Pindad to irresponsible parties.
"We have sent officers to PT Pindad to investigate the case," he said.
A day after Tuesday's blast, the police found another explosive device on the ceiling of a bathroom on the second floor of the same building, precisely above the lavatory where the first bomb exploded.
National Police Gen. Rusdihardjo said last Thursday that PT Pindad was the producer of the explosive device which bore the distinctive Military-One (M1) code.
When asked whether the police would also summon military personnel over the case, Dadang said it would completely rest on the results of the police investigation.
"PT Pindad has said that it distributed the alleged explosive devices from its production center in East Java. We'll coordinate with the Indonesian Military to find out who released the explosive devices to the irresponsible parties," he said.
Pindad's operation is under the auspices of the Army, in which all products of the company are produced only for military purposes.
Dadang said the police had yet to ascertain the motive of the bomb blast.
"At the beginning, we assumed the first bomb was placed at the office to create a chaotic situation.
"But, after the second bomb, the M1-coded one, was found, we had to review our assumption," he said, while citing that the second bomb did not explode because the timer failed to function.
He, however, said that the suspects had planned the blast carefully given that they had placed the explosive devices in places which were well-hidden. (asa)