Forensic police to infiltrate Tommy's 'bunker'

Forensic police to infiltrate Tommy's 'bunker'

JAKARTA (JP): With the slim chance that they might find former
president Soeharto's fugitive son, Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra,
City Police Chief Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman announced on Friday
that the police would break into an alleged "bunker" under his
house on Sunday.

He said that geo-radar signals identified an underground
bunker below the Central Jakarta residence of Tommy.

"One huge air pocket was found... under Tommy's house on Jl.
Cendana No. 12 in Menteng. We'll get to it on Sunday. Up till now
though, we still haven't found the door," Mulyono told a media
conference at the city police headquarters.

However, a senior officer of the National Police Forensic
Laboratory (Puslabfor) said that geo-radar signals had picked up
three underground bunkers instead of one, below Tommy's
residence, and that the "break-ins" into the bunkers were
scheduled for Saturday, not Sunday.

"Three gigantic air holes... some eight-meters deep, five-
meters wide and six-meter long, were detected by our geo-radar
detectors. They were detected under Tommy's residence, on Jl.
Cendana No. 12," the officer, who requested anonymity, told The
Jakarta Post.

"The holes seem to be interconnected by some sort of broken
road. Puslabfor is scheduled to force its way into these holes on
Saturday."

The Soeharto family, comprising the elder Soeharto and his six
children, have interconnecting houses in the capital's posh
central suburb of Menteng.

The National Police has simultaneously raided scores of places
in big cities nationwide in search of the fugitive during the
past few days, but have failed to locate him.

"For that (failure), I sincerely apologize to the general
public. Believe me, our expectation to capture that man is
greater than the public's," Mulyono told reporters.

Tommy, a 38-year-old businessman, has eluded arrest by police
for more than two months, probably hiding out in one of the
bunkers. The billionaire businessman has been on the run since
early November, when President Abdurrahman Wahid rejected his
appeal for a pardon of a corruption conviction.

Like Mulyono, city police chief of detectives High Comr. Harry
Montolalu told reporters that the police would get into the
bunkers on Sunday.

President Abdurrahman Wahid recently claimed that Tommy had
slipped through the fingers of police in a "small East Java town"
a few weeks ago.

National Police Chief Gen. Bimantoro, however, officially
denied the claim on New Year's Eve, saying that no such arrest
was ever made.

Speaking on Dec. 29 last year in Ciganjur, South Jakarta,
Abdurrahman claimed that Tommy, after being caught, demanded to
meet the President and indicated he had incriminating information
on tape, prompting the nervous policeman to telephone the
President.

"I said, there is no such tape. Just arrest him. But when the
police returned for Tommy, he was already gone," Abdurrahman
said.

But, he added: "We know where he is. When the time is right,
he will be arrested."

Before disappearing, Tommy met Abdurrahman at a hotel in
Central Jakarta, triggering speculation that he had tried to
strike a deal to avoid serving time behind bars.

Abdurrahman, who has admitted meeting Tommy, has denied any
agreement was struck. (ylt)