Game is over for Tommy<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Indonesia's most-wanted fugitive is behind bars after police
\nstormed a house in southern Jakarta and arrested Hutomo \"Tommy\"
\nMandala Putra on Wednesday afternoon after a year-long police
\nchase.<\/p>\n
Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb said Tommy, the
\nyoungest son of former president Soeharto, was caught at 4:05
\np.m. in a rented house on Jl. Maleo II\/9, Sektor IX, Bintaro
\nJaya, Tangerang, about 30 kilometers from the heart of the city.<\/p>\n
\"He was napping when the police raided the house,\" he told
\nreporters at the city police headquarters.<\/p>\n
He added that there was no resistance from Tommy.<\/p>\n
\"I will surrender, I won't resist,\" Tommy was quoted by Sofjan
\nas saying after his arrest by a 25-strong team of detectives led
\nby Adj. Sr. Comr. Tito Karnavian.<\/p>\n
Tommy, 39, is the main suspect in the murder of Supreme Court
\nJustice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, head of a panel of judges who
\nsentenced Tommy to 18 months in prison for graft.<\/p>\n
The police also accused him of illegal possession of guns and
\nammunition which were found in a house on Jl. Alam Segar, Pondok
\nIndah, South Jakarta, and in Cemara Apartments on Jl. Cemara,
\nMenteng, Central Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Tommy is one of the owners of the Humpuss Group, a major
\nIndonesian conglomerate which has 48 subsidiaries. He was awarded
\nthe government's national Timor car project which failed around
\nthe same time his father fell from power in 1998.<\/p>\n
Tommy arrived at Jakarta police headquarters at 6:25 p.m. in a
\ndark blue Kijang minivan. Wearing a white T-shirt and black hat,
\nTommy smiled to dozens of reporters massed in the compound. He
\nlooked relaxed and was not handcuffed. He was clean shaven, in
\ncontrast to recent police photos showing him sporting a beard and
\nhis trademark moustache.<\/p>\n
His lawyers, Elsa Syarief and Nudirman Munir, had separately
\narrived about 30 minutes earlier.<\/p>\n
Tommy was immediately taken to Sofjan's office upstairs, where
\nthe city police chief talked briefly to the ex-fugitive.<\/p>\n
Also present at the meeting was National Police Chief Gen.
\nBimantoro, who is scheduled to hand over his post to Commr. Gen.
\nDa'i Bachtiar on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"I am very happy that Tommy was arrested at the end of my
\nduty. This is the most beautiful gift for me,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bimantoro said a statement from Elsa that Tommy surrendered
\nhimself was not correct.<\/p>\n
Elsa had told reporters that she received a call from Tommy at
\n3:30 p.m, saying he would surrender to police.<\/p>\n
When asked if she told the police about the call, Elsa
\ndeclined to comment. \"I am afraid I would be a suspect if I tell
\nyou about that,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Since Tommy was declared a fugitive on Nov. 4, last year he
\nhad reportedly planned to surrender a number of times, but has
\nnever shown up.<\/p>\n
Tommy was the first member of Soeharto's family sent to court
\nfor corruption after his father resigned in 1998. His sister Siti
\nHardijanti \"Tutut\" Rukmana had been named a suspect in a graft
\ncase involving the state-oil and gas company Pertamina, while his
\nother sibling, Bambang Trihatmodjo was questioned in another
\ncorruption case. Neither were ever indicted.<\/p>\n
Soeharto was earlier charged with corruption but the court
\ndecided that he was too ill to stand trial.<\/p>\n
Sofjan told a press conference later in the evening that Tommy
\nwas arrested following an intensive two-day surveillance
\noperation staking out the house owned by a lady later identified
\nas Ibu Hasan.<\/p>\n
The woman and her son, Iqbal, were later taken to the police
\nheadquarters.<\/p>\n
During the past two months, police had closely monitored the
\nsuburbs of Pejaten, Menteng and Bintaro, where Tommy was believed
\nto be hiding. The police also tapped phone conversations of
\nTommy's relatives and close friends.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam
\ndenied speculation that Tommy's arrest was engineered by the
\npolice as a show of support for Bimantoro.<\/p>\n
\"Don't speculate. Police did not engineer the arrest,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Separately, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and
\nSecurity Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono congratulated the
\nNational Police for finally succeeding in arresting the country's
\nmost wanted man.<\/p>\n
Susilo, after attending an evening meal with President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri and TNI soldiers, also stressed that Tommy
\nshould receive fair treatment and fair trial.<\/p>",
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