Tommy's chief of security wanted
JAKARTA (JP): Police are currently searching for a man believed to be the chief of security for former president Soeharto's fugitive son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra for possessing molotov cocktails, City Police detective chief Hary Montolalu said on Monday.
Hary said police have released eight of Tommy's guards arrested on Saturday at a house on Jl. Yusuf Adiwinata, Menteng, Central Jakarta for lack of evidence.
"We have no strong evidence to detain them further. The nine molotov cocktails don't belong to the guards," he told reporters.
The guards told police during their questioning that the explosives and a bullet found in a room in the house belonged to their chief, identified as Agus Diaz.
Hary said the guards admitted that the molotov cocktails would be used in an attack against anti-Soeharto protesters who had earlier rallied near Jl. Cendana, where the Soehartos reside.
The house on Jl. Yusuf Adiwinata where the guards stay also belongs to Tommy, the detective said. The building was formerly rented by the Putra Bangsa charity foundation.
Police arrested the guards in a Saturday raid on the house in yet another fruitless effort to find Tommy.
Apart from molotov cocktails and a bullet, police also seized a jar of gasoline.
On Jan. 8 police arrested Tommy's bodyguard, identified as Indra Hasan, for illegal gun possession.
Besides hiring civilian guards, mostly from eastern Indonesia, Tommy was known for hiring some pensioners and active members of the Army Special Force (Kopassus).
Tommy was sentenced to 18 months in jail for corruption. The billionaire disappeared a day after President Abdurrahman Wahid officially refused to grant his request for a pardon on Nov. 2.
Police arrested on Jan. 19 Tommy's spiritual advisor Elize Maria Tuwahatu for illegal possession of explosives. She admitted that the bombs were given by the businessman, but still, there were no clues about the fugitive's whereabouts.
Tommy's wife Ardia Pramesti Regita "Tata" Cahyani and his lawyer Juan Felix Tampubolon have been questioned as suspects for allegedly halting police search for Tommy. (jun)