Police free suspect in Hutagalung case

Police free suspect in Hutagalung case

JAKARTA (JP): Police have released a man whose appearance was similar to that of the suspected killer of six members of Herbin Hutagalung's family.

Speaking to reporters late Wednesday evening, Bekasi Police Chief Lt. Col. Hari Pribadi said that the man, identified as Sutrisno, a construction worker, was not Suyono, alias Gendut.

Sutrisno has some physical characteristics similar to those of Gendut but has different finger prints, Hari said.

"The conclusion was drawn after my personnel and the victims' relatives arrived at the Surabaya police precinct at 5 p.m. on Wednesday and met Sutrisno," Hari said.

Sutrisno was arrested on Tuesday by the Surabaya police while doing construction work at a housing complex in Sidoarjo, East Java.

During police questioning, Sutrisno had denied any wrongdoing, saying that he knew nothing about the murder.

On the next day at 2:30 p.m., police sent four Bekasi policemen and relatives of Hutagalung's family to help the local police in East Java establish the identity of the suspect.

According to Hari, his personnel have no intention of halting their search for the main suspect and his accomplices.

"A number of our personnel are still searching for the suspect in a number of towns, stretching from Java to Sumatra," he said.

Gendut is accused of being the main perpetrator of the brutal murder of Hutagalung's wife, sister-in-law and four of his children on Jan. 5 last year.

Senior police officers believe that Gendut is working somewhere in Malaysia, but it is not yet clear how he entered that country. (bsr)