Synchronized searches for Tommy
JAKARTA (JP): The prolonged search for fugitive Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra has taken a new turn with National Police beginning a synchronized search operation, combing locations across the country suspected as refuges of former president Soeharto's son.
"The operation started on Wednesday and continues today. We found some clues, but we cannot reveal them now," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Saleh Saaf told the press on Thursday.
Saleh added that the synchronized hunt for Tommy was also aimed at demonstrating the police are serious in their efforts to capture the businessman, who was sentenced to 18 months in jail for corruption in September last year.
Saleh admitted that the police were embarrassed for failing to arrest Tommy, who has been on the run since his request for a presidential pardon was denied in early November.
City police have searched at least 58 locations in an attempt to find Tommy, including 18 sites around Jl. Cendana in the plush area of Menteng, Central Jakarta, where Soeharto and his family live.
The police have also searched the houses of former president Soeharto and his children, including Siti Hardijanti "Tutut" Rukmana, Sigit Harjojudanto, Siti Hutami "Mamiek" Endang Adiningsih and Tommy.
During their investigations Police used a geo-radar device to scan the compounds of the infamous family's homes, which are rumored to have bunkers being used as a hiding place by Tommy. To date the searches have proved fruitless.
Saleh said that the police are analyzing whether or not bunkers exist in the Cendana area.
In Surakarta, Central Java, police also checked several houses, including a house of former Chief of the Indonesian Military (TNI) Gen. (ret.) Wiranto and a house of chief of the Pemuda Pancasila youth organization Yapto Soerjosoemarno.
A house belonging to Tommy's wife Ardhia Premasti Regita "Tata" Cahyani in the same city was also searched.
East Java Police reportedly conducted similar searching on Wednesday but also failed to expose the fugitive.
President Abdurrahman Wahid has previously said that police arrested Tommy in an Islamic boarding school in the province but the fugitive managed to escape.
Commenting on the intensified search, one of the Soeharto family's lawyers, Denny Kailimang, said the family was upset over the matter.
"They are upset, but they can do nothing, and instead are allowing police to conduct the searches," Denny told reporters at National Police headquarters.
"One of the family members asked what the police will do next. It's an expression of dejection, due to the frustrating search."
He claims that the police's repeated searches, some of them at the same locations, lacked legal basis, but were continued just to satisfy the public. (jun)