JAKARTA: The suspect behind the blasts at state high school SMAN 72 Jakarta last Friday (Nov 7) acted alone and learned how to assemble explosive devices from online sources, said Indonesia’s counterterrorism police unit Densus 88 on Tuesday.
A day earlier, the police said the suspect may not have set off the explosions for religious reasons, and that a personal motive may be involved.
More than 50 people were taken to hospital with burns and other injuries after the blasts during Friday prayers at the mosque inside a school complex in the Indonesian capital’s Kelapa Gading area.
“The perpetrator is not anti any specific religion,” Jakarta police spokesperson Budi Hermanto said on Monday, according to the Antara state news agency.
He added it was suspected the perpetrator felt neglected by family members “and it piled up”.
Last Saturday, police said their chief suspect, a 17-year-old student, had undergone surgery after the attack. They did not say whether the student had been arrested or mention any other legal proceedings.
Officers found suspected explosive powder and written material, police added.
Densus 88 disclosed more details in a statement on Tuesday.
“The bomb was assembled independently, and the perpetrator accessed bomb-making instructions on the internet,” its spokesperson Mayndra Eka Wardhana said, as reported by news outlet Jakarta Globe.
Source: CNA
