Police to Work with PPATK to Investigate Transactions of 72 Forest Fire Suspects
The Indonesian National Police have named 72 suspects in connection with forest and land fires (karhutla) in several regions of Indonesia. Police are now investigating the financial transactions of the suspects.
“Financial transactions are currently being investigated,” said Brigadier General Mohammad Irhamni, Director of Certain Crimes at the Criminal Investigation Department (Dirtipidter Bareskrim Polri), during a press conference at National Police Headquarters in South Jakarta on Sunday (23/8/2026).
Irhamni said his team is investigating whether any of the suspects were instructed or financed to carry out their actions. The police will work with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) to analyse the suspects’ financial transactions.
“Whether there were people who instructed them, or who financed them, their payment instruments and account transactions are being pursued in cooperation with PPATK,” he said.
A total of 72 people have been named as suspects in connection with forest and land fires across nine regional police forces. The National Police are providing assistance to ensure the investigations proceed properly.
The dozens of police reports are spread across the Riau, West Kalimantan, South Sumatra, Jambi, Central Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Aceh, and North Kalimantan regional police forces.
“These nine regional police forces have carried out investigations, with 72 individual suspects named. The investigations were conducted at fire sites on the ground after hotspots were detected and confirmed to be actual fires,” Irhamni said.
He said the land burning is strongly suspected to have been deliberate. The breakdown of forest fire suspects is as follows:
Riau Regional Police: 30 police reports, 35 suspects
West Kalimantan Regional Police: 18 police reports from 2,282 fire hotspots
South Sumatra Regional Police: 15 police reports from 618 fire hotspots, 17 suspects
Jambi Regional Police: 17 police reports from 64 fire hotspots, 8 suspects
Central Kalimantan Regional Police: 8 police reports from 203 hotspots, 11 suspects
South Kalimantan Regional Police: 3 police reports from 318 fire hotspots, 2 suspects
East Kalimantan Regional Police: 2 police reports from 243 fire hotspots, 1 suspect
Aceh Regional Police: 2 police reports from 71 fire hotspots
North Kalimantan Regional Police: 2 police reports from 12 fire hotspots.