Police seem less concerned over child kidnapping cases

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police appear to pay less attention to the kidnapping case involving a quartet led by two brothers, who have so far claimed the lives of two children, compared to last week's shootings of a businessman and his bodyguard.

At Jakarta Police headquarters, the heads of several divisions that seemed likely to be involved in solving kidnappings, were unaware of the case when questioned by The Jakarta Post.

They were also unable to say which criminal division was responsible for investigating the kidnapping, which also involves rape and murder.

"We have not received any reports on kidnapping cases involving children so far... The case is probably being handled by detectives of the Robbery-Homicide division," said Anang Sutanto, a senior officer at the division of Crimes Against Children, Teenagers and Women.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Idham Azis, head of Vice Control and Robbery- Homicide division, claimed that the city police had not received any information about the kidnapping case.

"The case is most likely being handled by detectives from the police precincts of areas where the abductions took place," he said.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Trihadi, the head of the Mobile Detective division, which usually handles violent street crimes, claimed that his office had not received information on the crime, either.

Their statements were in direct contrast to the statement made by Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Prasetyo, who had claimed earlier that the City Police would support the investigation, as the case involved several provincial police forces.

"We will continue to track down the suspects," he had promised.

The serial kidnapping gang -- allegedly led by brothers Jerry, alias Jefry Saputra, 25, and Dani, alias Deni Saputra, 21 -- have brutally raped and murdered a 23-month-old baby girl kidnapped in Pademangan, North Jakarta, and a nine-year-old girl abducted in Cipayung, East Jakarta.

Currently, the Saputras -- who are believed to be assisted by a man and a woman -- are holding two kidnapping victims and have demanded a ransom. They are also believed to be responsible for two other kidnappings in Tangerang between March and July.

Although the kidnappings involve more victims, the police have deployed more detectives to handle the shootings of PT Asaba president director Boedyharto Angsono and his bodyguard, First Sgt. Edy Siyet of the Army's Special Forces (Kopassus) antiterror group.

In the isolated shooting case, police have even dispatched high-ranking detectives, or Adjutant Senior Commissioners, to hunt down the suspects. In contrast, the highest officer investigating the serial kidnappings is ranked First Inspector, three ranks below Adjutant Senior Commissioner.

Another disparity is in their investigation budgets, as police officers receive Rp 250,000 (US$29.40) to handle a single high- profile case, while they receive only Rp 7,500 for a petty crime case.

Criminologist Erlangga Masdiana of the University of Indonesia has criticized the police of being too busy handling big cases to address petty cases, including the kidnappings.

He also said that the public needed to pressure the police to solve the case.

Erlangga added that although the police already had a photo and sketches of the suspects, it was understandable that they did not want to distribute them, for the sake of the hostages.

"The suspects are presumably psychologically disturbed, therefore the police may have to consider -- if we distribute the pictures -- what they could do to their victims," he said, referring to the two murdered children.