Police launch probe into Kebon Sirih fire
Police launch probe into Kebon Sirih fire
JAKARTA (JP): City police have asked residents to stay away from the 10 buildings razed by fire over the weekend because they are still investigating the cause of the fire.
The police also urged the owners of the buildings on Jl. Kebon Sirih in Central Jakarta to wait for the laboratory examination to finalize the investigation.
City police spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna told The Jakarta Post that an inquiry into the fire is underway.
The 10 buildings, all used for business activities, were razed by fire early Saturday morning in circumstances the owners call mysterious.
They said they found six jerricans and plastic bags filled with petrol near the scene.
"I'm pretty sure this wasn't an accident because the jerricans would not have been there if somebody didn't put them there," reasoned JM Hidayat, one of the owners.
Syamsul, another owner, supported Hidayat's conclusion.
Hidayat received the news that his office, PT Intrabu Jasa Guna, was on fire at 5:30 a.m.
Police estimate the total loss may reach hundreds of millions of rupiah.
Iman refused to disclose the preliminary results of the police investigation.
He said the investigation is being carried out by police officers from the Central Jakarta precinct with support from city detectives and experts from the National Police forensic laboratory.
The public, including owners, are not allowed on the site without the police permission because the police are attempting to locate the source of the fire, he said.
The police, he said, did not want anyone to frustrate their investigation by tampering with the scene.
The detectives and forensic lab personnel have questioned a number of witnesses and collected evidence from the area.
"The material evidence is currently being identified at the police laboratory. The work will take months," Iman said.
According to Hidayat, he and the other building owners were approached by some persons wanting to buy the land on which the buildings stood for Rp 800,000 (US$350) a square meter.
Syamsul told Pos Kota daily on Saturday that he had also been asked to sell his land for Rp 1.5 million a square meter. The owners, however, refused to even consider the price because it was too low, Syamsul said.
The owners stuck to their price of Rp 4 million a square meter for the strategically located land.
Iman urged the owners to allow police to continue their investigation into the real cause of the fire to avoid any more problems. (bsr)