E. Java robberies, garage bomb similar

Dicky Christanto ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Denpasar   |  Fri, 02/08/2008 11:52 AM  |  Bali

Commenting on the ongoing investigation into the explosion at an Denpasar car garage, Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Paulus Purwoko said Wednesday the blast bore striking similarities with several robberies in East Java province.

"There are similarities with robberies in Jember, East Java, which occurred some time ago. For those cases, the robbers used explosives prior to entering the targeted premises and robbing the owner. We are still working through the details to establish the relationship between the Denpassar blast and those robberies," he said Wednesday according to Detik.com

An anonymous police source said the similarities were too obvious to be ignored. Currently investigators are trying to determine if the explosive materials used in the Denpasar blast are the same as those used in the East Java robberies.

"It's not uncommon for criminals from Jember to travel to Bali and do their business here. In the past, several robberies in Bali were carried out by criminal gangs from Jember. We are currently investigating this possibility," the source said.

The blast occurred at around 1am Tuesday morning in a west Denpassar car garage belonging to a tour and travel company located on Jl. Gatot Subroto. The powerful explosion, which left a crater one centimeter deep and seven centimeters wide, damaged several cars, flattening their tires and shattering their windshields. No deaths or injuries occurred.

Uniformed and plainclothes officers quickly descended on the area sealing it off for investigation. Forensic officers and members of the police's elite anti-terror unit, Detachment 88, combed the area for clues.

"The blast and robberies were not related to terrorist activities," said Purwoko. "The relatively low-grade explosive materials used for the blast are very different from those used in the Bali bombings of 2002 and 2005," he said, referring to the terrorist bombings which killed hundreds of people, mostly foreign tourists.

Police concluded that the blast was caused by a large sized firecracker.

"Since the Bali bombings, the police regard any explosion to be a serious incident, regardless of how powerful it is," Purwoko said, adding that the police were still trying to determine the motive behind the blast.

The police have questioned 11 witnesses. The witnesses include Ida Bagus Dirga, the owner of the garage, several of the garage's security officers, residents who live near the location and several people passing by the location when the blast occurred.

Purwoko said most of the witnesses were allowed to go home after the police established there was no relationship between them and the blast. The owner of the garage, Ida Bagus Dirga, was brought to the nearest police station for further questioning. The police have now started to question some of the company's business partners.

One witness, who did not want to be identified, said the explosion was likely related to an internal dispute within the travel company. The witness said Dirga fired several employees several days earlier.

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