Police grill Yenni on Tommy's whereabouts

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)