"I'm the granddaddy of wiretapping!" boasted National Police chief detective Comr. Susno Duadji in a voice recording obtained by the Post made during his meeting with KPK deputy chairman M. Jasin and his staff in early October.

Susno's remark was a boastful shot back at KPK officials, after Susno discovered he was being wiretapped by them over suspicions of demanding a bribe from businessman Boedi Sampoerna to retrieve the latter's US$18 million in savings from a legal limbo in Bank Century .

Almost boastful, Susno in the recording said the wiretaps could have remained concealed if the KPK had been more competent. With tongue-in-cheek he suggests perhaps KPK could use police wiretapping facilities and training.

For Susno, that meeting was a brief moment of triumph in the saga which many have described as a witch-hunt against the commission which has now seen two of its deputy chairmen -Chandra M. Hamzah and Bibit Samad Rianto-hurriedly detained on Thursday on allegations of abuse of power, bribery and extortion involving businessman Anggoro Widjojo.

While individuals like Susno may be currently in the spotlight, critics suggest that police may not have gotten so gung-ho had the momentum not been there. A climate of permissiveness was created by a conjunction of interests of high-ranking officials, politicians, law enforcers, and businessmen.

Bibit claims the assault on KPK is a consequence of a convergence of political and business interests.

"First, the elite political community were unhappy with the KPK, which had disrupted their activities. Then it was the business community," the retired police general told the Post last week.

The fact that KPK was on top of many a hate-list is no surprise. No less than 152 politicians were implicated on various graft charges. They even had the "audacity'" to shame the first family by putting the father-in-law of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's eldest son Agus Harimurti up on charges of corruption.

The Commission also uncovered "case-brokering" practices at the Attorney General's Office, sending a prosecutor and a high-profile broker to jail while implicating other high-ranking prosecutors.

But the spark which ignited the blaze the fuel surrounding KPK looks to be the bribery case involving then politician Yusuf Emir Faisal and Anggoro Widjojo.

A crackdown of Anggoro's company PT Masaro Radiokom led the commission to uncover evidence of a string of bribery allegation involving politicians, government officials and law enforcers. Masaro is the regular telecommunications contractor for the police, the military and the intelligence agencies.

At the same time, KPK was also investigating allegations of bribery involving lawmakers in the election of then central bank senior deputy governor Miranda Goeltom.

The case may yet implicate the son of a high-profile Chinese-descendant businessman known to have close ties with police and military officers as well as Yudhoyono's inner circle.

Another sensitive case being investigated revolves around the Bank Century fiasco, in which a peripheral event led to the wiretapping of Susno.

Chandra and Bibit were at the center of these investigations, making them a primary target for any outside attempt to suspend investigations.

The window of opportunity opened when then KPK chairman Antasari Azhar, currently being indicted in the murder of businessman Nasruddin Zulkarnaen, claimed that KPK officials were taking kickbacks from Anggoro.

Sources close to Bibit and Chandra allege that Antasari was eager to incriminate his deputies to ensure prosecutors would be lenient when forwarding charges before the court.

Police then claimed that the bribe money was handed to Chandra and Bibit by middlemen Ari Muladi and Edi Soemarsono.

Ari has since retracted his statement concerning the accusation.

With the case becoming weaker, a new one was quickly constructed, that of abuse of power, in slapping a travel ban on Anggoro, and later attempted extortion for revoking it.

"The allegations are so weak. There are so many loopholes leading us to conclude that the case was fabricated," said Chandra and Bibit's lawyer Ahmad Rivai.

While Susno refuses to comment over the issue, National Police chief Bambang Hendarso Danuri denied suggestions of fabricating evidence, contending that the allegations can and will be substantiated in court.

But the case may be unraveling more quickly than anticipated.

"I can confirm that there's a senior police officer whose name I cannot disclose, who came to the KPK to confess about the fabrication," Bibit told the Post.

The senior detective, who was involved in the investigation, was so troubled about the extent of the cover-up that out of his own free will he personally confessed about conspiracy at the KPK office.

The disbelief over the validity of the case against Bibit and Chandra was reinforced by the existence of a voice recording between police officials and members of the Attorney General's Office to fabricate evidence to implicate the the KPK members.

The recordings allegedly involve a conversation between Anggoro Widjojo, Anggodo Widjojo, a high-ranking AGO official and another unidentified official. Anggodo is the brother of graft suspect Anggoro.

Curiously, the President was referred to at least three times, referenced as "RI-1".

Yudhoyono has personally, and through his spokesman Dino Patti Djalal, denied involvement in any cover-up.

However questions persist as references to either Yudhoyono or his inner circle continue to crop up, undermining claims of neutrality.

The latest involves another recording between Susno, prosecutors and other officials inferring the First Lady by reference of "Blue Sky" during a call about Bank Century.

Susno has refused to comment over the issue.

As the case builds up - both for and against Bibit and Chandra -the political reverberations grow stronger.

"We can say that the elite is trying to seek impunity for past and future misdeeds by strangling the KPK," said lawyer and activist Taufik Basari, who is also legal advisor to Chandra and Bibit.

Additional reporting by Ika Krismantari

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