Police grill Yenni on Tommy's whereabouts

JAKARTA (JP): Former actress Yenny Rachman complied on Tuesday with a police summons for her to appear for questioning about the whereabouts of the fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, but claimed that she had not met with the latter since 1997.

Yenny was speaking to reporters after being grilled for more than seven hours at Jakarta Police headquarters. "The last time I met mas Tommy was around 1997 when I was still working at his Sentul racing track," she said.

Yenny was once a public relations officer at the motor racing circuit and was said to have a close personal relationship with Tommy.

The police had been expecting Yenny to appear for questioning since last month, but the former top actress from the 1980's was still in Australia on business.

Yenny is scheduled for another round of questioning on Tommy whereabouts on Wednesday at Jakarta Police headquarters.

In a related development, Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb said on Tuesday that there were groups that had tried to hamper the police efforts to track down Tommy.

"There are certain groups that have attempted to interfere with our work in investigating the bombings, and in our hunt for Tommy," Sofyan said without elaborating.

He further appealed to the public not to become involved in any way in protecting the fugitive son of former president Soeharto, saying he would prosecute to the full extent of the law those who were suspected of harboring Tommy.

When asked whether there were influential people who were helping Tommy while on the run, the two-star general answered, "Which influential people?"

The police have repeatedly searched the houses of members of Tommy's family in the plush Menteng area, including Soeharto's own residence. The police have reportedly also launched a series of searches at the houses of several retired army generals.

Sofjan admitted that Tommy's flight from justice had become both a major challenge and a major burden for the police.

"But for sure, we will hunt him down. Yes, we haven't made any significant progress yet. This is mostly caused by the fact that Tommy often moves from one place to another," Sofjan stressed.

Tommy has been on the run since November of last year after his appeal for a presidential pardon was turned down by former president Abdurrahman Wahid. Tommy was sentenced by the Supreme Court to 18-months imprisonment for involvement in a land scam.

Sofjan was speaking to reporters after opening a special training course for police to improve their skills.

He said that the Jakarta Police had set up a special antiterrorism unit which was tasked with investigating the recent spate of bombings in the capital.

"This team will also investigate the role of Tommy Soeharto in the series of bombings and terrorist acts," Sofjan said as quoted by Antara. (emf)