The man, who goes by the name Apin BK, has been on a North Sumatra Police wanted list since Aug. 24. He is registered as a resident of Deli Serdang on the outskirts of the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan.

The police raided Apin’s home in Deli Serdang on Aug. 19 to arrest him, only to find that neither Apin nor his family were at the address. Investigators later received information from the Medan Immigration Office that Apin and his family had fled to Singapore.

“Apin’s real name is Jhoni and he fled to Singapore from Kualanamu International Airport [on the outskirts of] Medan on a 10 a.m. flight on Aug. 9,” North Sumatra Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Hadi Wahyudi told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Investigators found out about his real name from an ID card and family card they found inside the house.

Hadi said that North Sumatra Police had informed the National Police, which would be in charge of hunting down Apin abroad.

Earlier on Aug. 9, the police raided a cafe called Warung Warna Warni in Deli Serdang, where the gambling ring allegedly operated. The police confiscated more than 100 CPUs, some 200 computer monitors, laptops, hundreds of SIM cards and 26 ATM cards, Tribunnews reported.

Recently, Apin was mentioned in unverified rumors circulating on social media regarding the so-called Konsorsium 303 (303 Consortium) and Kekaisaran Sambo (Sambo’s Empire). The social media posts accused former police internal affairs chief Insp. Gen. Ferdy Sambo and other high-ranking police officers of backing illegal online gambling. The number “303” refers to the article on gambling in the Criminal Code. Meanwhile, Ferdy is a key suspect in the ongoing probe into the murder of Brig. Nofriansyah Yosua Hutabarat at the former’s home in South Jakarta in July.

The social media posts also accused Apin of having a connection with North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. RZ Panca Putra Simanjuntak.

Panca has denied any involvement in Konsorsium 303.

Besides Apin, the police have named another suspect in the illegal online gambling case in North Sumatra. The man is identified as Niko Prasetia and allegedly led the operation of Apin’s online gambling ring. Niko was detained on Aug. 20.

Read also: Central Java Police arrest 34 online gambling suspects

Regional police forces have conducted raids and arrested suspects on the instructions of National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo to eradicate gambling in the country, including accomplices who fund the illicit operations.

Listyo’s instructions came amid unverified rumors that Ferdy and numerous high-ranking police officers were behind illegal online gambling.

Asked about the rumors, National Police spokesperson Insp. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo said recently that: “in principle, we have always been stern against ‘social diseases’” such as alcohol, gangs, drugs and gambling. (ami)

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