Reward, punishment for Cempaka Putih officers

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Untung S. Rajab on Friday congratulated his officers for the quick arrest of 12 inmates that escaped from Cempaka Putih Police precinct jail, saying that the success would mitigate the officers’ punishment for negligence in relation to the jailbreak.

“I gave the officers a week to recapture all the escapees and they did it in five days. The officers will still receive punishment, but it will be lighter,” Untung told reporters.

The 12 inmates escaped from the precinct jail in the small hours of Tuesday after sawing off the jail’s bathroom air vent over the course of a week.

Several joint teams of police officers from the precinct, the Central Jakarta Police, and the City Police were then dispatched under the command of Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Angesta Romano Yoyol to hunt down the fugitives.

Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said on Friday that the last three escapees had been recaptured on Thursday night.

“Ocky Inka Haryadi was captured in Surakarta, Central Java, where we also arrested his wife, Resti, while Andre Julius was arrested in his parent’s home in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara,” Rikwanto said.

Ocky and Andre were the alleged breakout masterminds.

One other fugitive, Harri Andriawan, was arrested on the southern shores of West Sumatra, not far from Padang.

Ocky and Harri had been originally detained for vehicle thefts while Andri was a drug suspect.

Rikwanto said that Resti, who was reportedly pregnant, was arrested on the grounds of helping her husband in supplying equipment used in the jail break, comprising a saw, pliers, and a size-eight wrench.

The police also arrested another man, identified as Supri Jaya, who allegedly had smuggled in a gas-filled tank and a lighter, which had also been used in the breakout attempt.

Resti and Supri have been charged under the Criminal Code for assisting a jail break and may face up to 32 months’ imprisonment. The police have also charged them under the 2009 Narcotics Law for obstructing justice in a narcotics case, which carries the penalty of seven years in prison and a Rp 500 million (US$55,500) fine.

Both Resti and Supri, along with 12 recaptured escapees, are currently detained at the Central Jakarta Police headquarters at Jl. Kramat Raya.

Apart from Ocky, Andre, and Harri, the other nine arrested escapees were identified as Angga Herdiawan, Toni Rahman, Eko Prihatin, Ibrahim, Suprapto, Agus Pian, Aji Tri Mulyadi, Suwardi and Agus Win Suprio.

Drug suspect Toni said that the escape had been carefully planned since mid-January.

“We discussed various escape scenarios and calculated all possible alternatives. It was all planned,” he told a press conference at the Central Jakarta Police.

Untung said that he had instructed the City Police’s Regional Monitoring Inspectorate (Irwasda) to establish a team to evaluate the condition of detainment centers at all police precincts in Jakarta.

“The team will evaluate the visitors’ registers, the surveillance system and the guard shifts, among others,” he said.

According to him, the police are still investigating the case and questioning precinct officers as of Friday.

“Punishments are yet to be decided on. If there are faults in implementing the standard operating procedures, we will surely punish the precinct head,” he said. (mim)