Police Identify 112 Suspects Linked to Forest and Land Fires

The Indonesian National Police (Polri) have stated that 112 individuals have been named suspects in relation to forest and land fires (karhutla) across various regions of Indonesia. This figure represents the accumulation of investigations conducted from January to September.

“Regarding the number of police reports, the handling of cases we have detailed, as well as the area affected, the total number of suspects or suspects-in-waiting has been set at 112,” said the Head of Sub-Directorate III of the Criminal Investigation Directorate of the National Police, Kombes Pipit Subiyanto, at Graha BNPB, East Jakarta, on Friday (4/9/2026).

Pipit noted that the highest number of suspects is located within the jurisdiction of the Riau Regional Police with 42 suspects, followed by the South Sumatra Regional Police and Central Kalimantan Regional Police with 20 suspects each. Furthermore, East Kalimantan Regional Police has 13 suspects, Jambi Regional Police has eight, West Kalimantan Regional Police has seven, and South Kalimantan Regional Police has two.

“In terms of current handling, there are 55 reports under investigation and 7lam 77 reports under the investigation stage. For those that have reached stage two or are complete (P-21), there are 17 reports in the Riau Regional Police and 1 report in the South Sumatra Regional Police,” he explained.

Pipit stated that the suspects are alleged to have cleared land by means of burning. He added that the land suspected of being burnt by the suspects is predominantly privately owned.

“The modus operandi we have found currently is that they carry out land clearing through these fires, whether by direct burning or unintentionally due to the use of hearths or other methods, with the motive being land clearing,” said Pipit.

“To update the report we are providing today, the police reports relate to individuals. Currently, up to the 167 mentioned, they are individuals,” he added.