Burnt Monkey Discovered in Batam and Bintan Blackout Case
Indonesia’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) has named five suspects in a case involving an alleged electrical-system failure that caused widespread power cuts on Batam and Bintan islands in the Riau Islands. Police said a monkey with burn injuries was found near a transformer.
Investigators said the disruption began when a wild animal, identified as a monkey, entered the area around Transformer 1 at the Sei Harapan substation, triggering a short circuit while the protection system failed to operate optimally. The blackout was reported on Monday, 12 October 2026.
“Melting was found on the 150-kilovolt bushing of Transformer 1. At the same time, the team also found a monkey near Transformer 1 with burn injuries,” said Brigadier General Moh Irhamni, director of Bareskrim’s special crimes directorate, at a press conference on Tuesday, 20 October 2026.
The discovery of the monkey has become a focus of the investigation. Investigators are examining how the animal may have been connected to the electrical disruption.
“This is one of the investigators’ focuses: establishing how the short circuit occurred, including the possibility that the animal was connected to the disruption at the electrical installation,” he said.
Investigators are also looking into the testing, maintenance and supervision of the installation’s protection system, including the authority and responsibilities of the personnel involved.
Their inquiries uncovered evidence leading to the designation of five suspects: four people from PLN Batam, identified by the initials RB, ZR, DA and AWD, and a contractor identified as AIP.
“Based on the investigation and the evidence, investigators proceeded to a case review and have named five people as suspects in this case: four PLN personnel in Batam, identified by the initials RB, ZR, DA and AWD, and one person from the contractor, identified as AIP,” he said.
The suspects face criminal provisions including Article 319 of Law No. 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code and Article 51(1) of the Electricity Law. The potential penalties will depend on which provisions are applied and on the evidence established in the case.
Personnel failed to supervise
Irhamni elaborated on the alleged negligence, saying the suspects failed to supervise measures intended to prevent wild animals from entering the site.
“Officials with the authority to supervise did not perform their duties properly. The vendor responsible for restoring the electrified fence should have promptly rebuilt it and connected it to electricity so that wild animals could not enter,” he said.
The fence, which was supposed to be electrified, was not connected to a power supply. There was only a small cable on it.
“At the time of the incident, this had not been done. There was only a small cable running along the top of the fence, so an animal could jump over it. It should not have been able to enter if the fence had been electrified,” he said.