Expert Commends Police Decision to Name Bus Company Director as Suspect in Fatal Accident

Transport policy analyst from the Citizens’ Coalition for Indonesian Transport, Azas Tigor Nainggolan, has commended the Semarang Metropolitan Police’s decision to name the Director of PT Cahaya Pariwisata Transportasi, Ahmad Warsito, as a suspect in the bus accident that killed 16 people in Krapyak, Central Java. Azas said the police’s action was appropriate.

“His decision to allow a bus without an operational permit to operate, with a driver who didn’t have a driving licence — in my view, this is legally correct. I commend it,” Azas told reporters on Wednesday (18/2/2026).

Azas explained that the fatal accident did not merely involve individuals. Rather, he said, it was the result of corporate criminal conduct.

“In my legal opinion, that’s how it should be. But this isn’t just about individuals — the crime is already corporate crime, a criminal offence committed by the company,” he said.

Azas urged that the case be closely monitored through to a court verdict. He said this was necessary to ensure justice for the victims and to serve as a deterrent for other offenders.

“But this is still only at the police stage. We need to see how it proceeds at the Prosecutor’s Office and the courts. It must be taken all the way to a court verdict,” he said.

“It must be monitored for the sake of justice for the victims, so it serves as a deterrent,” he added.

Azas called for the business licence of PT Cahaya Pariwisata Transportasi to be revoked if the company is found guilty. He urged all parties to monitor the case.

“After this, if it is indeed proven criminally, the company’s business licence must be revoked — the sanctions must be imposed, so the company is dissolved,” he said.

“The government must ensure that the legal process proceeds correctly. The police have started this; it must result in a court verdict and must not be allowed to slip through or be discontinued,” he added.

Director Named as Suspect

Ahmad Warsito was previously named as a suspect in the fatal PO Cahaya Trans bus accident on the Krapyak toll road that killed 16 people. Warsito failed to carry out supervisory functions over the operations of PT Cahaya Wisata Transportasi.

Warsito was also aware that the bus operating the Bogor-Yogyakarta route did not possess a route permit or supervision card (KPS), yet still authorised it to continue operating.

“The Bogor-Yogyakarta route has been operating since 2022, but to this day there is no route permit and no documents related to the processing of a route permit have been found. PT Cahaya Wisata Transportasi has therefore been operating illegally on the Bogor-Yogyakarta route since 2022,” said Semarang Metropolitan Police Chief Commissioner M Syahduddi at a press conference.

Furthermore, Warsito did not provide proper driver training. The bus driver was only trained to park the vehicle in the garage before being ordered to carry passengers to Yogyakarta.

“He did not implement safety standard operating procedures by failing to equip each passenger seat with seatbelts in accordance with Minister of Transport Regulation Number 74 of 2021 on motor vehicle safety equipment,” Syahduddi continued.

Warsito has been charged under the new Criminal Code, specifically Article 474 paragraph 3 of Criminal Code Number 1 of 2023, which states: “Any person who through negligence causes the death of another person shall be subject to a maximum imprisonment of five years or a maximum fine of category V.”

The fatal PO Cahaya Trans bus accident occurred on the Krapyak toll road, Central Java, in December 2025, killing 16 people.

The Cahaya Trans bus driver, Gilang, was also named as a suspect in the fatal accident. Gilang was additionally named as a suspect for possessing a forged driving licence.

Investigators developing the case revealed that there were other perpetrators involved in creating the forged document, namely Herry Soekirman (HS) and Mustafa Kamal (MK). Both were named as suspects on 15 February 2026 under Article 392 paragraph 1 regarding “any person who commits forgery of an authentic document.”