Game is over for Tommy

Game is over for Tommy

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia's most-wanted fugitive is behind bars after police
stormed a house in southern Jakarta and arrested Hutomo "Tommy"
Mandala Putra on Wednesday afternoon after a year-long police
chase.

Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb said Tommy, the
youngest son of former president Soeharto, was caught at 4:05
p.m. in a rented house on Jl. Maleo II/9, Sektor IX, Bintaro
Jaya, Tangerang, about 30 kilometers from the heart of the city.

"He was napping when the police raided the house," he told
reporters at the city police headquarters.

He added that there was no resistance from Tommy.

"I will surrender, I won't resist," Tommy was quoted by Sofjan
as saying after his arrest by a 25-strong team of detectives led
by Adj. Sr. Comr. Tito Karnavian.

Tommy, 39, is the main suspect in the murder of Supreme Court
Justice M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, head of a panel of judges who
sentenced Tommy to 18 months in prison for graft.

The police also accused him of illegal possession of guns and
ammunition which were found in a house on Jl. Alam Segar, Pondok
Indah, South Jakarta, and in Cemara Apartments on Jl. Cemara,
Menteng, Central Jakarta.

Tommy is one of the owners of the Humpuss Group, a major
Indonesian conglomerate which has 48 subsidiaries. He was awarded
the government's national Timor car project which failed around
the same time his father fell from power in 1998.

Tommy arrived at Jakarta police headquarters at 6:25 p.m. in a
dark blue Kijang minivan. Wearing a white T-shirt and black hat,
Tommy smiled to dozens of reporters massed in the compound. He
looked relaxed and was not handcuffed. He was clean shaven, in
contrast to recent police photos showing him sporting a beard and
his trademark moustache.

His lawyers, Elsa Syarief and Nudirman Munir, had separately
arrived about 30 minutes earlier.

Tommy was immediately taken to Sofjan's office upstairs, where
the city police chief talked briefly to the ex-fugitive.

Also present at the meeting was National Police Chief Gen.
Bimantoro, who is scheduled to hand over his post to Commr. Gen.
Da'i Bachtiar on Thursday.

"I am very happy that Tommy was arrested at the end of my
duty. This is the most beautiful gift for me," he said.

Bimantoro said a statement from Elsa that Tommy surrendered
himself was not correct.

Elsa had told reporters that she received a call from Tommy at
3:30 p.m, saying he would surrender to police.

When asked if she told the police about the call, Elsa
declined to comment. "I am afraid I would be a suspect if I tell
you about that," she said.

Since Tommy was declared a fugitive on Nov. 4, last year he
had reportedly planned to surrender a number of times, but has
never shown up.

Tommy was the first member of Soeharto's family sent to court
for corruption after his father resigned in 1998. His sister Siti
Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana had been named a suspect in a graft
case involving the state-oil and gas company Pertamina, while his
other sibling, Bambang Trihatmodjo was questioned in another
corruption case. Neither were ever indicted.

Soeharto was earlier charged with corruption but the court
decided that he was too ill to stand trial.

Sofjan told a press conference later in the evening that Tommy
was arrested following an intensive two-day surveillance
operation staking out the house owned by a lady later identified
as Ibu Hasan.

The woman and her son, Iqbal, were later taken to the police
headquarters.

During the past two months, police had closely monitored the
suburbs of Pejaten, Menteng and Bintaro, where Tommy was believed
to be hiding. The police also tapped phone conversations of
Tommy's relatives and close friends.

Meanwhile city police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam
denied speculation that Tommy's arrest was engineered by the
police as a show of support for Bimantoro.

"Don't speculate. Police did not engineer the arrest," he
said.

Separately, Coordinating Minister for Political, Social and
Security Affairs Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono congratulated the
National Police for finally succeeding in arresting the country's
most wanted man.

Susilo, after attending an evening meal with President
Megawati Soekarnoputri and TNI soldiers, also stressed that Tommy
should receive fair treatment and fair trial.