Second Missing Officer Found Dead After Central Kalimantan Drug Raid
A second police officer reported missing during a drug raid in Tumbang Kalemei village, Katingan Tengah district, Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan, has been found dead. The victim has been identified as Aiptu Sumaryanto, a member of the Katingan Police Narcotics Unit.
Brigadier General Eko Hadi Santoso, Director of Narcotics Crime at the National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim Polri), stated that Sumaryanto’s body was discovered in the river at Tumbang Kalemei village on Sunday morning. “One body, identified as Aiptu Sumaryanto, has been found,” Eko said in a statement on Sunday.
Eko explained that the search operation commenced at 06:00 WIB, involving personnel from the Central Kalimantan Regional Police, the Water and Air Police (Polairud), Military District Command 1019/Ktg, the National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas), and local residents. Three rubber boats and eight small motorised canoes were deployed to comb the river, the forests along the riverbank, and the area up to the Samba village market.
At approximately 08:42 WIB, information was received from a Babinsa (non-commissioned officer) from Rantau Asem, identified as Kopda Imam, regarding a body in the river at Rantau Asem village, about four kilometres from the crime scene in Tumbang Kalemei. “The Babinsa then notified the search team, and the team proceeded to the location. At 09:15 WIB, after checking the Rantau river, one body was indeed found, identified as Aiptu Sumaryanto,” Eko stated. The body has since been transported by ambulance to Bhayangkara Hospital in Palangkaraya.
Aiptu Sumaryanto is the third police fatality from the drug raid in Katingan, Central Kalimantan. During the operation, Aipda Yudhie Perdana Putra, also a member of the Katingan Police Narcotics Unit, was killed, while two other members, Aiptu Sumaryanto and Bripda Nopandri Ramadhana, went missing. Nopandri was found dead earlier on Saturday at around 15:55 WIB in the Katingan River basin, opposite Tumbang Lahang village.
Eko detailed that the raid took place on Wednesday night after the Katingan Police Narcotics Unit followed up on public information regarding the suspected distribution of crystal methamphetamine in Tumbang Kalemei village. The investigation led to a target with the initials BIO, a known repeat offender in narcotics cases. Twelve personnel were deployed for the operation. The police split into two groups, with the first team conducting the arrest at the target’s house while the second team stood by at another location as a support element. “During the arrest process, the target was successfully apprehended. However, the situation changed when several people inside the house and local residents fought back using sharp weapons, specifically machetes,” Eko said in a written statement on Thursday.