Number of Forest Fire Suspects Rises, Police Name 89 People

The Director of Specific Crimes at the National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim Polri), Brigadier General Mohammad Irhamni, said the number of suspects in alleged forest and land fire (karhutla) cases has risen to 89 people, up from 72 previously.

He said the number of suspects increased as police intensified their investigations, particularly by the Directorate of Specific Crimes (Dittipidter) at Bareskrim Polri, at forest and land fire crime scenes.

“To date there are 189 police reports. This means an increase from yesterday. So we are intensifying, proactively seeking the perpetrators who carried out the burning, of course. There are approximately 89 suspects,” he said when met in Central Jakarta on Friday (28/8).

Irhamni said the dozens of people are currently individual suspects. However, investigators continue to examine evidence to determine whether there were transactions or orders from corporate parties.

“Do not worry. If there is any evidence at all, however small, that strengthens the case that it was indeed an order from a corporation, we will pursue and take action, of course,” he said.

The one-star police general said the National Police are not only handling forest and land fires through enforcement, but also through education and outreach activities. He added that hundreds of personnel from the Police Education and Training Institute (Lemdiklat Polri) have been deployed to provide forest and land fire prevention outreach to the public.

“So that the public understands how dangerous it is if they burn land and forest areas during prolonged dry seasons like this El Niño,” he said.

Previously, the National Police named 72 people as suspects in forest and land fire cases handled by nine regional police forces. The modus operandi found in a number of these cases was dominated by land clearing through deliberate burning.

This method was chosen because it is considered cheaper and more economical than other land clearing methods. In practice, land that had previously been felled is then burned to clear remaining vegetation.

In addition to being cheaper, burning is also considered beneficial for the perpetrators because the ash from the burning can be used as a soil fertilising element before the land is used for plantation activities. During the investigation, the National Police also seized various pieces of evidence that strengthen the suspicion of deliberate burning activity.