T

he Jakarta Police have arrested two men suspected of stealing a painting by Indonesian artist Affandi entitled Self Portrait and His Pipe owned by Widjajalaksmi Kusuma Ningsih, the only child of the late Widjojo Nitisastro, a onetime National Development Planning Board head.

The director of the Jakarta Police'€™s general crime directorate, Sr. Comr. Heru Pranoto, said the suspects were identified as IP, 60, and AK, 32. Both suspects, he revealed, had been arrested last week, IP in Depok and AK in Kuningan, West Java.

'€œAfter studying the evidence and existing information, we were able to name suspects and arrest them last week. The suspects stole the painting in 2006,'€ he said on Tuesday.

Emir Soendoro, Ningsih'€™s husband, reported the case to the police in May 2014 after realizing that the Affandi painting in his house had been replaced by a fake. His daughter, Sawitri Miriani, then discovered online that the original had been sold at auction in Hong Kong for US$420,212 in 2010.

According to police, for many years IP had repaired air conditioners and fixed the wiring at Nitisastro'€™s house in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta. He allegedly stole the painting when the house was empty with the help of AK. IP then had it duplicated by a painter, R, in Depok before selling it to a buyer named AA for Rp 1.1 billion ($84,615). The painting had been resold to two other buyers at higher prices before it arrived in Hong Kong.

Heru said the buyers were deemed witnesses in the case only, as their transactions had been legal.

'€œWe will cooperate with Interpol to locate the painting, which is thought to be in Hong Kong,'€ he said, adding that the suspects would be charged with Article 363 of the Criminal Code on theft.