'Headlamp Man' Suspected of Central Kalimantan Forest Fire: From Viral Video to Named Suspect
Palangka Raya Police have named the ‘headlamp man’ who went viral for allegedly starting a forest and land fire on Jalan Kalibata Ujung, Palangka Raya City, Central Kalimantan, as a suspect. The suspect’s actions went viral after a child recorded a video asking about the location of the fire.
The fire occurred on Jalan Kalibata Ujung on Monday evening (17/8). The moments leading up to the fire were recorded by two children.
In the circulating video, two children on a motorcycle were initially tracing the location of the fire at night. Along the way, they met two men, one of whom was wearing a headlamp, holding a cigarette and carrying a mandau.
The child then asked the two men about the location of the fire. However, the man denied it.
‘Where, Mang, is the fire?’ the child asked, as seen in the viral video.
‘There is none,’ the man replied.
‘Huh, there was one earlier, Mang, over there,’ the child responded.
The man then replied again in a raised voice.
‘There is none. Go… go,’ the man retorted.
After that, the two children recorded the fire blazing fiercely. They rode their motorcycle through the heat of the flames on the side of the road.
Palangka Raya Police Chief, Senior Commissioner Deddy Supriadi, explained the chronology of the incident. He said the two children initially intended to extinguish the fire.
The fire occurred at around 6.30 pm local time. A child with the initials N (13) and his friend, along with volunteers, initially extinguished a fire on Jalan Kalibata Ujung, which connects to Jalan G Obos XXIV, Palangka Raya.
N and V then saw a fire spot about 200 metres from Jalan Kalibata Ujung. They then rode a motorcycle to the blaze to extinguish it.
‘At that time, witness N and his friend V saw a fire spot about 200 metres from Jalan Kalibata Ujung, then they rode a motorcycle to the blaze to extinguish it,’ Deddy explained.
Along the way, they met a shirtless man wearing a headlamp. The man was also holding a cigarette and carrying a mandau.
The two children asked about the location of the fire, but the ‘headlamp man’ answered ‘there is none’ and told them to go home in a loud voice. When the two children turned around, they saw the blaze.
Police traced the viral video. They then named A, also known as Icong, the ‘headlamp man’, and a landowner with the initials W as suspects in the forest and land fire on Jalan Kalibata Ujung, Central Kalimantan.
‘Yes, they are now suspects,’ said Palangka Raya Police Chief, Senior Commissioner Deddy Supriadi.
Meanwhile, Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of Palangka Raya Police, Assistant Commissioner Eka Palti Arie Putra, said the two suspects are charged under Article 308 paragraph (1) of Law Number 1 of 2023 concerning the Criminal Code. They face up to nine years in prison.
‘The criminal threat is nine years in prison,’ he said.
The text of Article 308 paragraph (1) of the new Criminal Code reads:
‘Any person who commits an act that results in a fire, explosion, or flood, thereby endangering public safety for people or property, shall be punished with imprisonment for a maximum of 9 (nine) years.’
Senior Commissioner Deddy Supriadi revealed that the motive for the burning carried out by the two suspects was to clear land. The police are still investigating the two suspects further.
‘It is certainly for land clearing. The exact details are still under development,’ Deddy said.