Indian PM may discuss Polaris case with Megawati
Indian PM may discuss Polaris case with Megawati
Agencies, New Delhi/Jakarta
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is likely to speak to Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri if the chief executive of Indian software company Polaris Software Laboratory Ltd. isn't released shortly, the local Economic Times reported Wednesday, quoting India's IT and Communications Minister Pramod Mahajan.
The Jakarta police arrested Polaris chief executive Arun Jain and vice president Rajiv Malhotra on Saturday on allegations of fraud by Jakarta-based Bank Artha Graha.
As reported, the Indian executives had flown to Indonesia last week to try and resolve a commercial dispute with the bank over a US$1.3 million software development contract.
Bank Artha Graha, which is controlled by a military foundation, is demanding $10 million in compensation from Polaris for failure to fulfill its contract.
"This kind of illegal activity against Indian businessmen is wrong. We will definitely support Arun Jain and the other Polaris official. To the best of our knowledge, they have not done anything which deserves this treatment," Mahajan was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile,Agence France-Presse reported that India's foreign ministry had summoned the Indonesian ambassador to New Delhi and said it would "strongly" take up the case.
"We are trying to get them released as quickly as possible," it quoted a source at the Indian embassy in Jakarta. The embassy is offering to guarantee that, if released, the two men will present themselves as needed by police investigators.
The source also said that Jakarta lawyers representing the two Indian businessmen were to meet with the police on Wednesday to seek their release.
The two business executive were still being held and undergoing questioning at the national police headquarters detective division, police spokesman Zainuri Lubis said.
He described them as suspects in the case.
It is not the first time Indonesian police have arrested officials of foreign companies involved in commercial disputes.
But the move is likely to renew concern over the country's weak legal system, which has partly deterred foreign investors from returning to Indonesia.
Foreign investment, which has steadily declined during the past couple of years partly due to legal uncertainty, is crucial to help the country fully recover from the late 1990s economic crisis.