Bali bombs toll reaches 23 as mastermind narrowly escapes police

Bali bombs toll reaches 23 as mastermind narrowly escapes police

DENPASAR, Indonesia - Indonesian police have intensified their hunt for the October 1 Bali bombers even as the suspected mastermind Noordin Mohammed Top narrowly escaped their clutches in Central Java.

Saturday's attacks claimed 23 lives and police suspect the hand of Islamic extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI). On Friday Indonesian police launched a raid on a suspected house but Top was believed to have fled from the location just three hours earlier. The raid, which was conducted in the early hours, targeted Wates Wetan village in Purwantoro district, Wonogiri regency.

"He left three days ago after staying here for just a week," a neighbor residing beside the targeted house told the police. He added that the man had identified himself as Agus Purnomo and resided in the house with his wife. “We can confirm it was him,” said Police chief Abdul Madjid. Another suspect that the police are hunting after is Azahari bin Husin. Both these men are thought to have strong links to the Al-Qaeda-linked group Jemaah Islamiyah.

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Meanwhile, police have circulated the pictures of three new-generation bombers who are suspected to have fled the scene of the blasts hours before they actually took place. Some 24 hours after admitting that the probe had been stalled for the want of fresh evidence, the police received a boost after they found intact pictures of the wanted men. Meanwhile, Surakarta Police in Central Java have detained a Malaysian citizen in connection with the blasts. The man has not been identified as yet, "He refused to give his name or provide the (complete) identities of his two associates. All he would say was that one of them was named Edi and was in Pekanbaru, Riau," a source said adding that the man had come to Indonesia to preach Islam.

The United States has also stepped into the picture and is offering a reward of $10 million for information regarding the location of one of the masterminds of the 2002 bombings, "Dulmatin, an electronics specialist with training in al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, is a senior figure in the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist organization," a State Department source was quoted as saying.