Deputy police chief commits suicide

Nethy Dharma Somba, The Jakarta Post, Jayapura

A middle-ranking police officer in the West Irian Jaya town of South Sorong apparently killed himself, just hours before he was to officially surrender his post to another officer.

A post-mortem report concluded that Comr. Yulius Pakiding died of suspected insecticide poisoning on Saturday. He is the fourth police officer in the country thought to have committed suicide in the past 10 months.

Local journalists speculated that Yulius' death was likely connected to his unsettled business with the provincial police headquarters concerning the construction of a housing complex for police officers in the newly established town of Aimas near Sorong.

South Sorong Police chief Comr. Wempy Batlayery refused to comment on the speculation. But he confirmed on Monday that his deputy had been involved in the construction project, which is valued at Rp 3 billion (US$300,000).

"He complained to me quite often that he had not received payment, although he had provided his land for the project. He was involved in the project by his own initiative," Wempy said.

Wempy added that Yulius had asked him to convey his complaints to the provincial police chief, while adding that Yulius had looked "unhealthy" in the days before he died.

"When I told him to see a doctor, he said he would only recuperate after he received his payment," Wempy said. He claimed to know nothing about how much his deputy would earn from the project.

Yulius had been entrusted to handle several construction projects for police office buildings in the newly established towns near Sorong, including the Mobile Brigade office in Suprao, the police headquarters in Sorong municipality and the Raja Ampat police headquarters, according to Wempy.

The burial of Yulius' had been put on hold pending his family's request for an autopsy. Yulius had not been living with his wife and their three children, who remained in Sorong, since his assignment to South Sorong seven months ago.

Yulius was found dead by Wempy's adjutant, whom the police chief ordered to pick up his deputy for a ceremony to mark the transfer of duty at the South Sorong police headquarters.

Police discovered a nearly empty can of insecticide and a pair of scissors near his body. A leather belt was also wrapped around his neck.

The ceremony was delayed indefinitely due to the incident. The National Police headquarters has appointed Comr. Bernard B. Muda to replace Yulius.

Wempy said the police had sealed off Yulius' house to facilitate a police investigation into the case.

In January, chief of detectives in Kampar regency, Riau, First Insp. Jhontua D. Hutagalung, killed himself as well. Family problems were cited as the motive of that suicide.

April saw two more officers commit suicide. On April 18, Second Brig. Yohanes Widiyanto died after he shot himself in the head inside St. Antonius Catholic church in Yogyakarta after a morning service.

Nine days later, former chief of the traffic section at the Jombang police department First. Insp. Sugeng Triyono shot himself after shooting his superior, Adj. Comr. Ibrahim Gani. Ibrahim survived after surgery to remove bullets from his chest and hip, but doctors could not save Triyono's life. The incident came after Triyono was moved from his position to a "less lucrative" post.