Officer may be fired for assault

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Bogor/Bandung

Bogor Police chief Sr. Comr. Bambang Wasgito may be removed from his post if he is proven to have assaulted his subordinate Adj. First Insp. Wawan Setiawan, the intelligence and security unit head of North Bogor Police sub-precinct, a police spokesman says.

Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Aryanto Boedihardjo said on Monday that the National Police Internal Affairs had begun investigating the assault case on Sunday.

He admitted, however, that Bambang had not been questioned so far.

"We will question Wawan first to know what actually happened. Next, we will summon Bambang to the headquarters and only then we will decide what to do," Aryanto said.

He stressed that it was possible that Bambang would be removed from his post if internal affairs found sufficient evidence to prove that he was guilty.

Bambang allegedly assaulted Wawan, 53, upon receiving news that his son Tri Rianto Andika Putra, 15, had been attacked by unidentified persons. Wawan, who was at the crime site but didn't recognize Tri, failed to capture the attackers.

Upon receiving the news, Bambang called up Wawan immediately and told him to come to the Central Bogor Police subprecinct, where he was assaulted.

Wawan's wife Muryati, 50, said on Sunday that her husband fell unconscious immediately after arriving home on Saturday and was rushed to Bogor Red Cross Hospital before he was moved to Azra hospital on Sunday.

Quoting doctors treating Wawan, Muryati said on Monday that her husband was suffering from a brain hemorrhage.

Bambang denied on Sunday that he had attacked Wawan, saying that the allegation was fabricated to discredit him.

However, a member of Wawan's family who declined to be identified said that Bambang visited Wawan at the Bogor Red Cross hospital on Sunday, before he was moved to Azra hospital.

"The Bogor Police chief (Bambang) came to see Pak Wawan and when he saw the victim (Wawan), he cried and apologized. He also asked family members not to grant interviews to journalists," he said.

"We took the apology to be an admission that he was the attacker. He wouldn't apologize if he was not guilty. The fact that he cried gave the impression that he regretted what he had done," he said, adding that Wawan was moved to RS Azra upon Bambang's instruction.

West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Edi Darmadi said that he would summon Bambang to clarify news reports that he had assaulted Wawan.

Edi told reporters in Bandung, West Java on Monday that Bambang would be demoted if it was proven that he assaulted his subordinate.

He said that his office had not received an official report about the assault even though it was already three days after the incident allegedly took place.

Bambang was removed from his post as West Jakarta Police chief in 2003 following a report that he blackmailed several Chinese businessmen. He was appointed as Bogor Police chief in 2004.

Meanwhile, several officers from West Java Police internal affairs escorted Bambang to West Java Police Headquarters in Bandung while North Bogor Police subprecinct Adj. Comr. Nandun and his officer Chief Brig. Santoso were summoned to the National Police Headquarters.