Paras Indonesia, 10, 11 2005 @ 11:23 pm
First Suspect Arrested as Suicide Bombers Identified
Roy Tupai
Police announced Tuesday (11/10/05) they had arrested a man on suspicion of
involvement in the October 1 Bali suicide bombings that killed 23 people at three
crowded restaurants.
National Police spokesman Brigadier General Sunarko Artanto said a 45-year-old
construction worker with the initials H.S. was arrested at 10pm Sunday in Jember,
East Java province. Local media reports identified the man as Hassan and said police
flew him to Bali at 1.30am Monday.
Artanto said H.S. had shared a room in a rented house on the outskirts of Bali with
the three suicide bombers for about one month, but disappeared a few days before the
bombings.
"At this time H.S. is still being interrogated… We strongly suspect he is linked to the
Bali bombings," said the police spokesman. He said the suspect was arrested under
anti-terrorism legislation and police have an initial seven days to detain him for
questioning before deciding whether to file charges.
The severed heads of the three suicide bombers had been found at the sites of the
attacks and were publicized in the print and electronic media in the hope that
members of the public would come forward to identify them.
Police subsequently received information that the trio and a fourth man had lived in a
room at a one-story kos (boarding house) on Jalan Nangka Selatan, Gang Nuri 3,
Number 11, Denpasar. Local media reports quoted neighbors as saying they saw
some of the bombers on the day of the attacks.
Sulastari, a woman who lived in the same kos, said the four men had moved in around
September 8 and generally did not talk with their neighbors. She said two of the men
went out every day at 10am and returned in the evening, while the others stayed in
their room. One of the men always dressed in the same black clothes, she added.
The kos has now been sealed off by Indonesian Police and Australian Federal Police
investigating the bombings.
One of the alleged suicide bombers was identified by the initials Y.T. Police said DNA
tests were still being conducted on the remains of all three bombers, who are believed
to be from East Java.
Hassan's wife Tuti (42) was quoted by the Associated Press as saying her husband
had been living in Bali for some time, but regularly returned home, last visiting on
September 28 to pray at his parent's graves prior to the Islamic fasting month of
Ramadhan.
Artanto said the arrest of H.S. came after police had questioned 259 witnesses.
Another police spokesman, Bambang Kuncoro, said investigators had found notes
relating to bombs, a personal computer and an audio-visual device. He did not say
where the items were found.
Police were reportedly questioning two men from Lombok, whose identification cards
were found near one of the blast sites, while a third man was brought in for
questioning on Sunday in Gorontalo, northern Sulawesi.
Police suspect the bombings might have been masterminded two members of
regional terrorism network Jemaah Islamiyah – Malaysian fugitives Azahari Husin and
Noordin Mohammad Top – who are also accused of organizing previous terror
attacks. Some reports said Hassan had worked in Malaysia about four years ago but
was deported after about 14 months for working illegally.
Copyright (c) 2005 - PT Laksamana Global International. All rights reserved
|
