Witnesses quizzed over bombing of AG's Office
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)