(Tribunnews.com/Dany Permana)

The National Police are trying limit the damage from the Corruption Eradication Commission’s (KPK) investigation of a two-star police general by naming five suspects, including three police officers, in their own probe.

According to a police general who declined to be named, the KPK’s probe of the scandal surrounding the police’s procurement of vehicle simulators worth Rp 198.7 billion (US$21.06 million), might implicate another more senior general.

The police named the five as suspects to control what they might tell investigators about the senior general’s involvement in the scandal, the source said.

If the KPK’s investigation was not “contained”, the source said, it would “spiral out of control”.

Separately, National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Anang Iskandar said that detectives had filed a notification with the Attorney General’s Office (AGO) that they named five individuals as suspects in the graft case.

The three police suspects comprise National Police Traffic Corps deputy chief Brig. Gen. Didik Purnomo; Adj. Sr. Cmr. Teddy Rusmawan, the officer who was in charge of the procurement; an officer identified only as LGM, Anang Iskandar told The Jakarta Post on Thursday, declining to discuss the timing of the move.

The chiefs of the firms that won the procurement contracts were also named suspects: Abadi, from PT Citra Mandiri Metalindo; and Budi Susanto and Sukoco S. Bambang, from PT Inovasi Teknologi Indonesia.

“They were officially named suspects on Aug. 1, when we also submitted their names to the AGO for further investigation,” he said.

“These five people are the most responsible for the procurement. Therefore, we have fulfilled our obligation to investigate the matter as well as to name the suspects,” Anang said.

Detectives from the National Police would continue to look for additional suspects in the case and would investigate if Didik, Teddy, and LGM should be sanctioned or fired, according to Agung.

The spokesman, however, said that the KPK — and not the National Police — would investigate Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo for allegedly accepting a Rp 2 billion bribe kickback to award the contracts to PT Citra Mandiri Metalindo and PT Inovasi Teknologi Indonesia when he was chief of the Traffic Corps.

“We have agreed to cooperate with the KPK in this investigation. For this reason, we need not put him [Djoko Susilo] on our list, as the KPK has named him a suspect,” Anang said.

Djoko Susilo, the current governor of the National Police Academy in Semarang, Central Java, was named a suspect in the case by the KPK on Monday, making him the first active duty police general to be so indicted.

Contacted separately, KPK chairman Abraham Samad said on Thursday that the commission had launched its investigation of the procurement before other law enforcement institutions.

“We launched the investigation earlier, so other institutions can help KPK make it more comprehensive,” Abraham said.

The commission has also named all five men as suspects in the case.

Meanwhile, lawmaker Eva Kusuma Sundari, who sits on the House of Representatives’ Commission
III overseeing law and human rights, said that the National Police could not impartially investigate its officers.

“The police have always applied a double standard when it comes to law enforcement. They will dare to hunt legal violators anywhere but inside their own institution.”

“It’s best for the KPK to take control of the investigation, otherwise the whole investigation will result in nothing,” Eva, an Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) lawmaker said.

Lawmaker Didi Irawadi of the Democratic Party echoed Eva’s comments, saying that the KPK had to be given sole control of the investigation to prevent the obstruction of justice.

“The police can always help by providing documents needed by the KPK, but do not involve them in the core of the investigation,” Didi said.

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