Police arrest editor over press theft

PALU: The chief editor of Palu's Info Baru daily was arrested by Central Sulawesi Police on Sunday for allegedly trying to steal his newspaper's printing press.

"We have arrested Sahlan Lamporo because we believed he intended to escape Palu on a Lion Air flight on Sunday morning," fraud squad director Tatang Somantri said on Monday.

He said Sahlan was reported for allegedly trying to steal the newspaper's printing press, owned by a Yanto Sugondo.

Yanto said he had a written agreement with Sahlan that the machine would be operated by Info Baru management, who would provide him with regular reports about its use.

But Yanto said he had received no reports.

"When I asked him about it, he (Sahlan) became upset. He even threatened me roughly and said that the machine belonged to his brother," said Yanto, who then reported Sahlan to police.

Sahlan denied that he had tried to steal the machine but admitted he had failed to make the reports as agreed. -- JP