Police target Tommy's friends for questioning

JAKARTA (JP): The police, still in the dark over Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra's whereabouts, will question his close friends, former singer Maya Rumantir and former artist Yenny Rachman, on Friday.

The police have now turned to his friends as the questioning of his sisters and wife appears to have so far not been fruitful.

"The questioning is aimed at locating Tommy's whereabouts. We are going all out to search for him," Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb told reporters at Jakarta Police Headquarters.

Sofjan said the police suspected that Tommy, the youngest son of former president Soeharto, had stayed at his friends' houses, including Maya and Yenny.

City Police Spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam added that Tommy's aide and former car racer Tinton Suprapto would also be questioned about Tommy's whereabouts.

Maya is widely known to have had "special" relations with Tommy in the past, while Yenny, a former film star during the 1980s was known to be involved with the fugitive in connection with his racing activities at Sentul car circuit in West Java. Tinton was the circuit manager, which belongs to Tommy.

"We are sure that Tommy is still here, in Jakarta. But we admit that we still don't know where he is," Sofjan said on Wednesday.

He reiterated that Rp 500 million (US$62,500) in cash had been offered by the police to anyone who could give information on Tommy's whereabouts.

Anton said police again questioned paranormal Dionardi of Jl. Benda, South Jakarta, on Wednesday who was believed to be one of Tommy's spiritual advisors.

He said Tommy's sister Siti Hediati Hariyadi Prabowo, also known as Titiek would be questioned at Jakarta Police Headquarters on Thursday.

Earlier, police had questioned Soeharto's eldest daughter Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana, also known as Tutut and Tommy's wife Ardhia Pramesti Regita "Tata" Cahyani.

Tommy's nephew Ari Haryo Wibowo, also known as Ari Sigit, was detained for the illegal possession of ammunition on Tuesday.

Ari Sigit, the eldest son of Soeharto's eldest son Sigit Harjojudanto, was arrested on Monday night following the finding of 70 bullets in his house on Jl. Rasamala, Menteng, Central Jakarta.

Many believe that the police's move to detain Ari was aimed at forcing Tommy to emerge from his hiding place, believed to be somewhere in the city.

Tommy escaped after the Supreme Court sentenced him to 18 months in jail in November last year for corruption involving the State Logistics Agency (Bulog) and his firm PT Goro Batara Sakti.

Police announced on Aug. 6 that Tommy had ordered the murder of the Supreme Court justice, M. Syafiuddin Kartasasmita, who was a member of the panel of judges that decided the 18-month jail sentence.

At least 13 people have been arrested, including two suspects, Noval Hadad and Mulawarman who allegedly shot Syafiuddin to death in the Kemayoran area, Central Jakarta, while he was on his way to work on July 26. (jun)