Police release Indian businessmen
Police release Indian businessmen
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Two high-profile Indian businessmen controversially detained by
police were released into the custody of the Indian Embassy on
Friday, National Police said.
"We released them at 9:30 a.m., but we confiscated their
passports to prevent them from leaving the country," National
Police deputy spokesman Sr. Comr. Zainuri Lubis said.
Arun Jain, chairman of Polaris Software India Ltd, and Rajiv
Malhotra, the company's senior vice president, are required to
report to police twice a week.
An official at the Indian embassy in Jakarta told Reuters that
it was still unclear if the two had to remain in the country
while police probed a commercial dispute that led to their
detention last week after a complaint by a Polaris client in
Indonesia.
The pair were arrested on Dec. 13, allegedly for committing
deception and embezzlement causing Bank Artha Graha, belonging to
an Indonesian Army foundation, to suffer huge financial losses.
Zainuri said the men would likely face further questioning as
the case proceeded.
"We freed them as the charges only carry a maximum five-year
jail term," Zainuri said referring to the Criminal Code.
"We detained them simply to prevent them from leaving the
country due to their status as foreigners."
He played down suggestions the release was due to high-level
pressure from the Indian government on the Indonesian government.
India's Foreign Minister Yaswant Sinha was reported by AFP to
have phoned Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda over the
matter which has received widespread condemnation in India.
Jain and Halhotra were in Jakarta to look into the termination
of a contract to install a US$1.3 million software system at
Artha Graha. The bank has demanded $10 million in compensation
for failure to fulfill the contract.
Foreign businessmen have questioned the lack of legal
assurance in the country due to the poor legal system and corrupt
law enforcement officials.
Canadian-based Manulife Financial Corp. was declared bankrupt
by the Central Jakarta Commercial Court in June. The decision was
later overturned by the High Court while the judges were
suspended for corruption. The judges' fate remains unclear.