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Monas blast raises questions over national security
The Jakarta Police chief asked people not to exaggerate the incident because according to him it was “ordinary”.
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The site of a blast in the National Monument (Monas) area on Tuesday morning. (JP/Vela Andapita)
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blast that occurred within the National Monument (Monas) area in Central Jakarta, right across from the Home Ministry building and just a few meters away from the Merdeka Palace on Tuesday morning has raised questions about national security.
The police have confirmed that the blast, which occurred at 7:05 a.m. in a public area commonly used for, among other things, recreation, exercise and public gatherings, was caused by a smoke grenade.
Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel Sgt. Maj. Fajar and Chief Pvt. Gunawan, who were doing their regular morning exercise with other TNI personnel in the area, were injured and rushed to Gatot Subroto Military Hospital.
Security analyst Stanislaus Riyanta said he called on the police and the military to speed up the investigation. He called on them to answer two important questions surrounding the incident: How did the grenade reach that location and who did it?
“The way I see it, it was not a terrorist act. There were no clear motives, no targets and no actors,” he told The Jakarta Post via phone.
Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Gatot Eddy Pramono has asked the public not to exaggerate the incident as it was just a smoke grenade.
“This is just a smoke grenade, don’t exaggerate this. The grenade could belong to our [security] personnel, [who] left it there,” Gatot said, stressing that it was an “ordinary" accident.
