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.