Suspect Arrested in Bandung Corpse-in-a-Box Case, Fled Towards Sumatra

Police have successfully apprehended the suspect in the case of a woman's body discovered inside a cardboard box in Bandung, West Java. The suspect, identified by the initials SDS, 31, was arrested in Banten province less than six hours after the incident, while en route to Palembang city, Sumatra. The victim has been identified as SM, 41. "Alhamdulillah, we were able to secure the suspect less than 6 hours after he began his journey towards Palembang City," stated the Head of the Bandung City Police, Kombes Pol Dedi Suryadi, on Tuesday (1/9) night. The suspect is currently undergoing examination at the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Bandung City Police. "The motive will be announced soon after the examination is completed," he added. The Bandung City Police also brought in Tegar, an expedition (delivery service) driver, who allegedly transported the body along with the suspect. Tegar claimed he received an order from the suspect via an expedition service application to transport the box containing the body to the Kopo area from Jalan Terusan Suriyani. Initially, Tegar stated he was unaware of the contents of the box. "When I helped lift it, I wasn't suspicious yet. So, I helped lift it a bit to put it in the vehicle," said Tegar, the expedition driver. After the box was loaded onto his pickup truck, Tegar and the suspect, SDS, began their journey to the delivery point. However, not long after, Tegar detected a very strong odor. He then inquired about the contents of the package with the suspect. A debate ensued as the suspect was reluctant to reveal the actual contents. "That's when I became more suspicious, and I started to get scared and panicked, knowing more and more that this was a body and this person was with me. I told him, 'I want to unload this,'" Tegar recounted. "Just before the Pasirkoja intersection, where the road was a bit congested, I immediately took the left turn in front of a wok shop. By chance, there were other people there. I immediately got out and shouted at him to unload it. 'You have to unload it, unload it yourself, I don't want this,'" he recalled. At that moment, the suspect had no choice. Tegar saw the suspect and personally unloaded the cardboard box from the truck bed. After the box containing the body was unloaded, Tegar shouted for help from people around. The suspect then immediately fled. Previously, a cardboard box containing a body was found by residents on Jalan Terusan Suriyani, Babakan Ciparay, Bandung City, on Tuesday (1/9) afternoon. The deceased was found neatly wrapped and bound. The body was first discovered by a scavenger. When attempting to open the box, the scavenger found a wrist protruding from inside. The discovery was immediately reported to the police. The INAFIS team from the Bandung City Police immediately visited the discovery site. Police cordoned off the area to conduct crime scene investigations. The Chief of the Babakan Ciparay Police, Kompol Kurniawan, stated that based on the examination of the body found in the box, the deceased was a female. "The deceased is a woman, approximately 30 years old," said Kurniawan. The complete identity of the deceased is not yet known. However, it is suspected that the female body is the victim of a murder. "Yes, based on initial investigation and crime scene analysis at the location, it is suspected that this is the result of a murder, but we are still conducting an investigation from the initial crime scene," he said. Source: CNN Indonesia