Police to quiz woman over Tommy

JAKARTA (JP): City police detectives are scheduled to question a 27-year-old woman, in connection with the whereabouts of fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

City police chief of detectives Sr. Comr. Harry Montolalu identified the woman as Lani Banjaranti, a resident of Jl. Dempo in the Pegangsaan subdistrict of Menteng in Central Jakarta.

While police sources indicate that Lani is Tommy's former girlfriend whom he dated in the early 90s, Harry refused to give further information about the woman.

"The police will question her ... in connection with the possibility that she has either hidden Tommy or knows where Tommy is now," Harry told reporters at city police headquarters.

Information from police sources also indicated that Lani, who reportedly owns at least three luxury cars, moved to the house on Jl. Dempo less than a year ago.

"She is very rich ... her house is tightly guarded. We raided her house late last week, but did not find Tommy," one source told The Jakarta Post.

The youngest son of former president Soeharto, Tommy, a 38- year-old businessman, has been on the run since last November.

He was sentenced to 18 months in jail for corruption last September. (ylt)