Police question Bakin general over AK-47 rifle permit issuance
Police question Bakin general over AK-47 rifle permit issuance
JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Police have questioned a brigadier
general and a retired colonel in connection with the arrest of
Haryogi M. Maulani, who was caught red-handed with possession of
an AK-47 (Avtomat Kalashnikova) rifle and a Walther Colt gun, an
officer of the city police special crimes unit said.
The major, who requested anonymity, identified the people
questioned as Brig. Gen. Soetopo, Fourth Deputy of the State
Intelligence Coordinating Body (Bakin), who allegedly signed the
permit for Haryogi, a businessman, to possess the AK-47 rifle.
"The permit was signed by Soetopo. Why Soetopo signed it is
the question. We are still digging," the officer told The Jakarta
Post.
"The other person we questioned was Army Col. Jalil, a retired
military officer who used to work for BIA (the intelligence body
of the then Indonesian Armed Forces)."
The officer also said that police investigators found it
difficult to question Haryogi because the businessman had
"speaking difficulties".
"He has had some 13 surgeries on his voice membrane since he
was a kid. He was nearly mute before ... he speaks very slowly
and sometimes we can't understand what he is saying," the officer
said.
"We are sure that the AK-47 belongs to his father."
Haryogi is the son of Lt. Gen. (ret) Zaini Azhar Maulani, a
former chief of Bakin.
On Feb. 16 police confiscated two weapons from the suspect.
One was an AK-47 weapon, serial number 4857, and had neither
the bullets nor the magazine.
Another was a Colt Walther, number 271759, with bullets and
the magazine.
Police also found a small packet containing white powder when
Haryogi was arrested on the 10th floor of a hotel in West
Jakarta, at about 2 a.m. on Feb. 16.
The arrest was made by Tamansari Police officers.
Officers of the Tamansari subprecinct received information
from an unidentified person at 8 p.m. on Feb. 15, that there was
a long rifle in room number 102 of the hotel.
The caller added that the person occupying the room was
Haryogi.
Police arrived at the hotel at about 11 p.m. on Feb. 15. Since
the room was locked, they used the hotel's master key to enter.
They found the AK-47 rifle on a table. The room was untidy,
but empty. Officers left it the way it was and stood on alert
outside the hotel.
At about 12:30 a.m. on Feb. 16, they saw Haryogi in the
hotel's parking lot, with his father's Pajero jeep. They
immediately arrested him and found the Walther Colt on him.
Haryogi showed police officers the permit for the AK-47,
signed by Soetopo.
"What we still have to find out is that if he had a permit why
was he so adamant in hiding the weapon from the police? What was
he using it for?"
An AK-47 rifle is between 70 centimeters to 86 centimeters
long and weighs about four kilograms. It has been used in many
wars around the world. Producing countries include the former
Soviet Union, China, Hungary and Bulgaria. (ylt)