More people hunted over Basuki case

More people hunted over Basuki case

The South Jakarta police are still hunting several people
believed to have sold or received valuables stolen from the late
painter Basuki Abdullah.

"Since the killing of Basuki in November, we've been ordered
to find out as much material evidence as we could and nab those
believed to be involved in the murder as well as the trading of
Basuki's valuables, which were stolen by the murderers," a police
officer told The Jakarta Post here late last week.

"We'll never stop investigating the case until we have been
able to uncover all," said the officer, who asked not to be
identified.

On Thursday the police nabbed a fence believed to have bought
at least eight of Basuki's stolen wristwatches, including a Rolex
given to the painter as a gift from President Soeharto. The man,
identified as Andi Sembiring, 28, confessed to having bought the
wristwatches from one of the three murderers and later sold the
items.

Andi, an elementary school dropout, is widely known as the
godfather of fences in the city.

His brother, Tetap Sembiring, who is also strongly believed to
have played a role in selling Basuki's valuables, is still at
large. (bsr)