Police Halt Investigation into Alleged Defamation of SPPG Head in Lombok

Central Lombok Police Resort (Polres) has halted the investigation into the alleged defamation case against Alman Putra. Alman is the complainant and also the head of the Nutrition Fulfillment Service Unit (SPPG) in Ketara Village, Pujut Subdistrict, Central Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).

The suspects in this case are two residents named Jamiatul Marwah and Lalu Muin. Alman reported them for defamation after they posted a free nutritious meal (MBG) menu containing mealworms on social media.

The head of the Specific Economic Crimes Unit (Tipidter) at Central Lombok Polres, Ipda Lalu Ramdan, stated that the investigation was stopped because it did not meet the elements of a criminal offence. Ramdan confirmed that the MBG menu containing mealworms, uploaded by the two suspects, was indeed distributed by the SPPG under the complainant’s management.

“From the statements we obtained from six witnesses, it is true that the menu uploaded by Jamiatul was from the SPPG of Mr Alman Putra,” said Ramdan to journalists in his office on Thursday (2/4/2026).

Ramdan said that investigators had examined a total of six witnesses in the case. This included Alman as the complainant and head of the SPPG in Ketara Village; Heny Apriani (accountant of SPPG in Ketara Village); Lalu Nopal Urbaya (Korcam SPPI in Pujut Subdistrict), Baiq Restu Tunggal Kencana (source of the video), as well as Jamiatul Marwah and Lalu Muin who uploaded the wormy MBG menu on Facebook.

Based on the examinations, the police concluded that the report filed by Alman did not meet the elements of a criminal offence. Ramdan stated that there was no malicious intent (mens rea) from Jamiatul Marwah and Lalu Muin as the video uploaders.

“After obtaining statements from the relevant parties and reporting to the Head of Criminal Investigation, he decided to halt this case immediately,” added Ramdan.

It is known that the National Nutrition Agency (BGN) had previously temporarily suspended the operations of Alman’s SPPG. Based on findings by the team in the field, BGN discovered that the bread in the MBG menu distributed by the SPPG in Ketara Village indeed contained mealworms.

Ramdan urged the public not to hesitate in continuing to monitor or viralise MBG menus if they are unfit for consumption. “The BGN itself allows the public to upload videos as a means of control for the suitability of menus from all SPPGs,” he concluded.