Tito questioned over Tommy's impounded cars

JAKARTA (JP): Police have questioned Pratikto "Tito" Prayitno Singgih, a son-in-law of former president Soeharto, in connection with a recent raid on an automotive workshop, during which police seized cars believed to belong to his fugitive brother-in-law Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam said on Monday that Tito, the husband of Tommy's younger sister Siti Hutami "Mamiek" Endang Adininingsih, was questioned late on Friday at West Jakarta Police Headquarters following information given by the workshop owner who said Tito entrusted the cars to him.

"I don't know the answers given by Tito to the police but he was definitely questioned on those matters," Anton said.

As it was earlier reported, the police raided Reza Jaya Motor 81 automotive workshop late on Wednesday and confiscated seven cars, which were said to belong to Tommy.

Tito arranged a deal with Hardjuni, the workshop owner, to place Tommy's cars at his property located on Jl. Pahlawan, Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta since 1997. Hardjuni was paid Rp 6 million (US$667) per month for the service.

In correcting previous figures, Anton said that, of the seven cars impounded during the raid, detectives identified six of them as belonging to Tommy, while the other one was owned by a retired army general.

The cars have been taken to Jakarta Police Headquarters as evidence.

"The cars are registered under the name of Cucu S., who works at Hardjuni's workshop. Cucu has been questioned and admitted that he used to work in an automotive technical team for Tommy," Anton explained.

The six cars include two golf vehicles, a Lamborghini jeep, two sedans and a truck.

The police raided the workshop late on Wednesday night after receiving a tip-off from nearby residents claiming that they had often seen Tommy entering and leaving the workshop.

In their manhunt for Tommy, the police have launched crackdowns on various properties and carried out numerous search operations but to no avail.

Their latest raids on Thursday on units believed to belong to Tommy at Taman Anggrek Apartment in West Jakarta and Kemayoran apartments in Central Jakarta to locate the most-wanted fugitive ended empty-handed.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb had said that the police would reevaluate their manhunt for Tommy on Sept. 12, but did not say whether the operation would be continued.

Chief detective of the Jakarta Police Sr. Comr. Adang Rochana, confessed on Wednesday of being very tired of searching for fugitive Tommy, as they had used all their resources during the unsuccessful manhunt, which had lasted for more than 10 months.

Tommy has been on the run since November last year when he was sentenced to 18 months in jail for graft connected with a land exchange deal between his company PT Goro Batara Sakti and the State Logistics Agency (Bulog). (emf)