T

he Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has urged the police to thoroughly investigate the shooting of an anticorruption activist in Bangkalan, Madura Island, East Java.

The activist, 47-year-old Mathur Husairi, was shot and wounded by an unidentified person in front of his house on Jl. Teuku Umar at about 2 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

'€œThe police have to act firmly soon to investigate the case,'€ Kontras Surabaya coordinator Andi Irfan told reporters in Surabaya, East Java, on Tuesday.

He said that if the case was related to Mathur'€™s activities in criticizing Bangkalan legislative speaker and former regent Fuad Amin, who is currently being detained by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), then Mathur should report the incident to the Witness and Victim Protection Agency (LPSK).

Bangkalan Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sulistyono said that Mathur was shot as he got out of his car and was about to enter his house.

Based on witness statements, the perpetrator was riding a motorcycle, Sulistyono said.

'€œWe are still investigating the motive of the shooting. We are currently processing the crime scene,'€ he said.

Based on provisional results of the crime scene examination, he said, the victim was shot once at close range. Mathur is currently being treated at the state-owned Dr Soetomo Hospital in Surabaya.

Meanwhile, East Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Awi Setyono said the hospital'€™s medical team had succeeded in removing the projectile that hit the right side of the victim'€™s belly and intestine.

'€œWe will bring in the projectile to have it examined at the forensic laboratory to find out the type of bullet and gun,'€ Awi said.

He said the police would be serious in investigating the case.

So far, five witnesses had been questioned by the police, he added.

Awi also said the police had deployed a team to help the Bangkalan police identify the perpetrator.

For the last few months, Mathur has been known for his strong criticism of policies made by Bangkalan legislative speaker Fuad Amin, who is also a former regent of Bangkalan.

Fuad has long been known for his attempts to establish a political dynasty in Bangkalan that controls many of the regency'€™s state projects.

Fuad served as Bangkalan regent for two terms starting in 2003.

He officially ended his term in March 2013 and was replaced by his son, Imam Buchori Makmun Ibnu Fuad, who won the regency election.

Fuad, a politician from the Gerindra Party, was arrested by the KPK on Dec. 2, 2014, for his alleged involvement in a bribery case involving a private-sector company and gas supplied to a regency-owned company.

The KPK declared the cleric-turned-politician a graft suspect for accepting Rp 700 million (US$56,910) in cash from a businessman in connection with a gas contract he approved in 2007 when serving as regent.

The KPK has said that it would charge Fuad with money laundering after it found evidence that the former regent had bought assets with his ill-gotten funds.

Besides Fuad, the KPK also nabbed a Navy officer identified as Darmono, Fuad'€™s adjutant identified as Rauf, as well as businessman Antonio Bambang Djatmiko, the director of PT Media Karya Sentosa.

The antigraft body is reportedly scheduled to question Fuad'€™s son, Bangkalan Regent Makmun.