‘Youth figure’ nabbed over murder

INDONESIA: Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto says the police have arrested John Kei, a North Maluku youth figure, in relation with the murder of PT Sanex Steel Indonesia owner Tan Harry Tantono alias Ayung several weeks ago.

He said John was arrested at a hotel in Pulomas, East Jakarta, where he was staying. John resisted arrest, and was shot in the leg by police officers.

“He is still receiving medical treatment at the Police General Hospital in Kramat Jati at this moment,” Rikwanto told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

John’s lawyer Taufik Chandra, however, denied the allegation John was behind Ayung’s murder. He said his client had nothing to do with the murder.

“The police have arrested the perpetrators, who used to be John’s men. But I can assure you that there John did not give the order to kill Ayung at that time. The murder was carried out purely on the initiative of those five men,” Taufik said as quoted by kompas.com.

Ayung and John were allegedly locked in a dispute after Ayung refused to pay a debt that John and his men came to collect.

John Kei’s name first surfaced in 2004 following the murder of Basri Sangaji, another Maluku youth figure. The murder was allegedly sparked by their fierce competition in the debt collecting business.