Indonesia Highlights: Indonesian Presidential Security Detail Beefs Up Security at the Bogor Presidential Palace | Jakarta Police Bomb Squad Defuses Church Bomb Scare | Jakarta Police Arrest Gun Totin

JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – Indonesian security personnel focused their efforts on the Jakarta satellite city of Bogor, due to the standing of the area’s presidential palace as the choice residence for President Joko Widodo and recent attacks in the cities of Makassar and Jakarta this week.

The Jakarta Metropolitan Police removed an item that they suspect was a bomb, near a Protestant church in Melawai, South Jakarta, as security for churches nationwide are beefed up for Good Friday and the rest of the Easter holiday weekend.

And police in the capital nab a gun-toting driver whose moment of road rage made its way on social media and other parts of cyberspace. This and more on Indonesia Highlights:

KOMPAS.COM/RAMDHAN TRIYADI BEMPAH An example of the security safeguards set up at the Bogor Presidential Palace, this time for the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide on Tuesday (20/10/2020)

Indonesian Presidential Security Detail Beefs Up Security at the Bogor Presidential Palace

Indonesian security personnel tightened security in the city of Bogor, West Java, due to the standing of the Presidential Palace there as the preferred residence of President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, and the spate of attacks in Makassar, South Sulawesi and Jakarta earlier this week.

“We have tightened security, particularly towards the approaches to the Bogor Presidential Palace, police precincts as well as houses of worship [in Bogor],” said Bogor Police Department chief Grand Police Commissioner Susatyo Purnomo Condro.

“We have more reasons to put these measures in place following the [lone wolf] attack on the headquarters of the Indonesian National Police in Jakarta last Wednesday and the suicide bombing at a cathedral in Makassar, South Sulawesi last weekend.”

The Presidential Security or Paspampres at the Bogor Presidential Palace beefed up security more than two weeks before, after they and supporting military units detained a man identified as AB for breaking in to the Palace on the evening of March 16.

“[The Paspampres] and one of our men on guard duty detected suspicious movement in a part of the Bogor Botanical Gardens designated for VVIPs,” said military spokesman Army Infantry Major Ermansyah on Friday.

“When he went to take a closer look, he found AB trying to jump the fence. He then nabbed AB and transferred him to police custody.”

President Jokowi has called for the Indonesian public to unite against terrorism after the Makassar cathedral attack and the lone wolf assault on the Indonesian national police headquarters. Women played a leading role in both assaults.

Sources:

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/03/31/21124411/serangan-teroris-di-mabes-polri-kantor-polisi-dan-istana-bogor-dijaga?page=all#page2. 

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/04/02/17300231/terobos-masuk-hingga-dekati-area-istana-bogor-seorang-pria-diamankan. 

KOMPAS.com/WAHYU ADITYO PRODJO Police Brimob officers explain about the bomb scare near the GPIB Effatha Protestant Church in Melawai, South Jakarta on Friday (2/4/2021)

Jakarta Police Bomb Squad Defuses Church Bomb Scare

Good Friday services in Jakarta and the rest of Indonesia might have proceeded peacefully, but they are not entirely free of scares.

The Jakarta Metropolitan Police deployed a Mobile Brigade Corps or Brimob’s Bomb Disposal Unit or Gegana to the Effatha Protestant Church of Indonesia [GPIB Effatha] in South Jakarta’s Melawai district, after they received a report of a suspicious item near the house of worship on Friday night.

“An initial check of the suspect bundle with electronic devices have failed to detect any flammable, metallic or other explosive materials,” said Jakarta Metropolitan Police’s Brimob commander Grand Police Commissioner Gatot Mangkurat of the item.

But he maintained that there is no room for complacency. “We still suspect that the [item] contains an explosive device, perhaps a letter bomb. That is why we will take it to Gegana headquarters for further examination.”

A GPIB Effatha security guard identified as Yonson reported finding the suspicious item, which turned out to be a magazine and a book of newspaper clippings, on a bus stop near the church at 6.30 pm. He added that he did not see any suspicious persons passing through the area.

Source:

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/04/02/21462501/tim-jibom-gegana-pastikan-tak-rangkaian-bom-pada-benda-mencurigakan-di?page=all#page2. 

DOKUMENTASI PRIBADI The gun-toting driver involved in a road rage incident in Duren Sawit, Jakarta that went viral on Friday (2/4/2021).

Jakarta Police Nab Gun-Toting Individual in Road Rage Incident

The Jakarta Metropolitan Police has arrested a car driver identified as MFA in connection with a road rage incident in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, after he used a pistol to menace a group of motorcyclists and bystanders who tried to hold him accountable for an accident early Friday morning.

“[The police] arrested the driver, whom we identified as MFA, at a mall in South Jakarta. We traced him to his house in Patal Senayan, South Jakarta, due to the license plate number and make of his car,” said Jakarta Metropolitan Police spokesman Grand Police Commissioner Yusri Yunus.

“His family then gave us his whereabouts.” Yusri noted that the police are still trying to determine how MFA got the gun, he had no doubt about the piece’s make or his intent

“The gun MFA used was an airsoft gun. He used it to bluff his way through a hostile crowd which tried to block him from leaving after he bumped into a female motorcyclist at a traffic light on Jalan [Street] Kolonel Sugiono, leaving her sprawled on the road.”

He added that MFA also used the gun out of rage at being stopped by the local people. MFA’s actions have gone viral on Instagram and other social media, after one of the bystanders recorded the incident and uploaded it on the internet.

Source:

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/04/02/15574741/polisi-sebut-senjata-yang-ditodongkan-pengemudi-fortuner-di-duren-sawit?page=all#page2. 

https://megapolitan.kompas.com/read/2021/04/02/15003341/polisi-tangkap-pengemudi-fortuner-yang-tabrak-dan-todongkan-senjata-di?page=all#page2.