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wo officers from the Poso Police are feared missing after having last been seen some six days ago.

The police officers, Brig. Sudirman and First Brig. Andi Sappa, were last reported seen at a thanksgiving gathering on Oct. 8 at around 11 a.m. at the house of Tamanjeka hamlet head Muhammad Sabarah, located some 3 kilometers from Massani village, Poso Pesisir district.

Although they were stationed at separate places — Sudirman at the Poso Pesisir Police as chief of detectives and Andi at the Poso Police is an intelligence officer — the two have known each other for a long time, since Andi previously served as community police chief in Toini village, Poso Pesisir district.

The deputy chief of the Poso Police, Comr. Eko Yudi, confirmed the two officers were missing on Monday.

According to reports, after attending the gathering on Oct. 8, Sudirman did not report for duty the next day.

The local police chief asked his men about Sudirman’s absence, but they said they were unaware of his whereabouts and had lost contact with Sudirman. The same was said of Andi.

Unable to contact the missing men, officers from the Poso Pesisir Police went to Tamanjeka hamlet to inquire the whereabouts of the two officers who attended the gathering. According to Eko, the hamlet head reported that both of the men immediately returned home in the afternoon after the gathering.

“Those who were assigned to look for the missing police members then traced the road taken by Sudirman and Andi in Weralulu hamlet, Tokorondo village in Poso Pesisir. According to residents in the hamlet, at around 6 p.m., both of them stopped by to buy gasoline and then continued their journey,” said Eko.

As they did not arrive in Tokorondo village that night, police then reported the men as missing somewhere along the 6-kilometer stretch of treacherous and poorly-maintained mountain road between Weralulu hamlet and Tokorondo village.

According to Eko, his force has mobilized around 60 Mobile Brigade personnel in addition to detectives and 60 Indonesian Military (TNI) soldiers to search the area where the missing men are believed to have gone missing.

He called on residents to provide any information that might be relevant so that both men could be found immediately.

Poso Pesisir Police chief First Insp. Sudaryono said Sudirman had previously asked for permission to attend the gathering.

“I didn’t allow him to go earlier, but as he said the person hosting the gathering was a relative and he was familiar with the place, I eventually allowed him to go,” said Sudaryono.

As of the time of writing, police were still working to find the men. In addition to TNI soldiers and local residents, authorities have also involved local soothsayers to gather information on the whereabouts of the two missing policemen.