Major reshuffle in National Police

JAKARTA (JP): The National Police unveiled on Friday a major reshuffle involving 19 high-ranking officers.

City Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bahrul Alam said an order stipulating the rotation was signed by National Police chief Gen. Surojo Bimantoro on Thursday.

"The transfer of duty normally takes effect within two weeks from the issuance of such an order. It could be within a week at the earliest," Anton said on Friday.

There were some surprises in the reshuffle, including the appointment of Central Java Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. A. Rochana to the Jakarta Police chief of detectives post, replacing Sr. Comr. Harry Montolalu.

Harry, who has held the post for eight months, will be promoted to chief of the Police Intelligence Education Center, which is based in Megamendung, Bogor. He will succeed Sr. Comr. Rusbagio Ishak, who will be transferred to National Police detectives as chief of the subdivision dealing with crimes on the falsification of documents.

Harry will be leaving unsolved high-profile criminal cases, including the controversial Christmas Eve bombings and last September's Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX) bombing.

The current post of Rochana will be filled by a top detective from the National Police, Sr. Comr. Ade Rahardja.

Another surprise is the transfer of East Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Hidayat Fabanyo to Jakarta Police as chief of intelligence and security.

A number of criminal cases in East Jakarta, including murders, bank robberies and narcotics cases, have been unsolved during Hidayat's term.

His post will be filled by current Bekasi Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Muhammad Idrus Gassing. Idrus will be replaced by Adj. Sr. Comr. Djoko Susilo, currently in charge of vehicular registration at Jakarta Traffic Police, a lucrative post many high-ranking police officers covet.

Djoko will surrender his post to Adj. Sr. Comr. Syafruddin, who is in charge of vehicular registration at Central Java Traffic Police.

Anton added that the reshuffle was both routine and based on police evaluation and appraisal.

"The reshuffle is not politically motivated, as many people might believe. We need new personnel to implement our new strategies to cope with cases which remain unsolved," Anton said.

Anton was referring to at least four such cases.

The first being locating fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who has eluded the police since last November.

The second involves locating the masterminds behind the powerful JSX bombing, which left at least 10 people dead in September last year, and the escape of one of the bomb suspects.

The Christmas Eve bombings which occurred at various churches and killed three people in the capital. The police have yet to locate the masterminds behind the bombings.

The police still have no idea as to the identity of the planters of three active hand grenades found in January by a buffalo herder in the middle of and under the railway track near Lemah Abang Railway Station in Bekasi and the bombing of a railroad bridge over a river in Serpong, Banten, early this month. (ylt)