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Ojek Driver Held, More Suspects Sought for Train Blaze
Zaky Pawas | October 14, 2010

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Jakarta. Police have named three suspects in Monday’s fire that destroyed 24 train cars at Rangkasbitung Station in Banten, on the outskirts of Jakarta.

The fire, which began in one of the cars at 1:45 a.m., left thousands of would-be commuters stranded without a ride during the morning rush hour.

On Wednesday, police in Lebak subprecinct identified the three suspects as EK, TN and EO, saying they were “regulars to the station.”

Of the three, however, only EK, a motorcycle taxi driver, has been arrested. TN and EO, believed to be the chief perpetrator and a known pickpocket, remain at large.

“We assume the suspects started the fire deliberately,” Adj. Sr. Comr. Widoni Fredi, the local police chief, said.

“Our forensic investigation turned up traces of gasoline and charcoal in several of the train cars, and this ties in with what investigators from other departments have found.”

He added it would have taken a concerted effort to burn down the train cars, thus ruling out the possibility that the fire was accidental.

He said police had decided to name the three men as suspects after questioning 18 witnesses, one of whom testified to having seen one of the suspects douse the cars with gasoline.

Widoni also said police were looking into reports that the suspects may have started the fire over a grievance against state railway operator Kereta Api Indonesia.

“There has been a lot of speculation that the suspects were disappointed with the company’s services, or else may have been evicted from their homes by the company when the station was built here several years ago,” he said.

“Right now, though, we’re only looking at the facts.”

Widoni said there was a possibility that more suspects could be named.

The fire was initially believed to have been sparked by a candle left unattended by a homeless person.

Homeless people are known to sleep in the empty cars overnight, which Transportation Minister Freddy Numberi said was “not so good in terms of security.”

No casualties were reported in the incident.

Only three cars of the affected express train, which serves the Jakarta-Rangkasbitung route, were left intact.

Seventeen of the 24 burned cars were gutted.

The fire reportedly began not long after the train cars had been cleaned and prepped for the regularly scheduled morning commute to Tanah Abang Station in Central Jakarta.