KPK deputy chairman Nawawi Pomolango said he had instructed the commission’s investigation and law enforcement departments to immediately take Harun into custody.

“I have requested that the acting investigation director and the enforcement deputy […] add more personnel to the task force,” Nawawi said on Monday evening as quoted by kompas.com.

He went on to say that the KPK had also explored other options, such as forming a new task force in addition to the existing team to ensure Harun’s immediate arrest.

Nawawi further reasserted the antigraft body's commitment to hunt down the fugitive, who has eluded authorities for over six months. “[The KPK] shall continue looking for him,” Nawawi said.

Harun, alongside his fellow PDI-P politician Saeful Bahri, was accused of bribing then-General Elections Commission (KPU) commissioner Wahyu Setiawan in exchange for securing a seat in the House of Representatives that was left vacant by a deceased member from the ruling party.

Last month, the KPK filed a request with the Law and Human Rights Ministry to extend an overseas travel ban for Harun as it continued its search for the graft fugitive.

KPK investigators failed to capture Harun during an operation in January, but they managed to arrest Wahyu, Saeful and six other suspects in the case.

It was later discovered that Harun had departed for Singapore on Jan. 6 and returned to Indonesia on Jan. 7 before the KPK named him a suspect the following day. He is believed to have fled the country shortly afterward and currently remains at large.

The Jakarta Corruption Court has sentenced Saeful to one year and eight months behind bars for his involvement in the bribery case in May, while handing down a six-year prison sentence for Wahyu in a verdict read out separately on Monday. (rfa)