Moonlighting cops arrested for assault

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Another blow to the police force's battered image struck on Thursday when three moonlighting policemen were arrested for physically assaulting a business adversary of their boss.

The beaten businessman, identified as Jojo Sulaiman Rochmat, 45, suffered injuries to his head, neck and mouth.

"We made the arrest upon a report from the businessman. We have handed over the case to the Jakarta Police," said West Jakarta police detectives unit chief, Comr. Herry Rudolf Nahak.

All three, according to Herry, are from the National Police squad. They are First Brig. Adrianus Raymona and First Brig. Humo Hermino of the narcotics unit and Adj. Brig. Yanto who is a guard unit member.

The incident reportedly began when Jojo, who owns the Conford Spa, refused to accept the resignations of his employees Nancy and Nanjaya, who intended to move to a rival establishment, the Diva Spa. Jojo argued that their work contracts had not finished.

To put pressure on Jojo, Diva Spa manager Santi Purwanto asked the three policemen in her employ to accompany her to Jojo's home on Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta, West Jakarta.

An argument ensued between the policemen and Jojo which apparently led to the assault.

The Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo revealed that they were interrogating the three policemen at the headquarters.

Non-governmental organization Police Watch reported that there were at least 90 cases of assault involving police personnel, on and off duty, in 2003. Several of the assaults were so severe that they led to the death of the victims.

"There has been an increase in police moonlighting due to an old habit they've carried over from when the force was still a part of the Armed Forces (now Indonesian Military, TNI), in addition to poor discipline.

"Certainly it cannot be due to low salaries, because, I think Rp 800,000 (about US$94) monthly salary is enough for the lowest ranking personnel," the watchdog director Rashid Lubis told The Jakarta Post.

"As a result, the number of assault cases implicating police officers tends to increase year by year," he added.

On Wednesday, the police announced the arrest of an investigator with the National Police anticorruption unit, identified as Comr. Puja Laksana, who was in possession of about 900 ecstasy pills.