Dian Kuswandini, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 03/04/2008 1:31 AM | Headlines
Indonesian police promised Monday to work closely with their Singaporean counterparts in the hunt for Jamaah Islamiyah member Mas Selamat Kastari, who escaped from a maximum security prison in Singapore last week.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto, speaking in Jakarta after installing six new provincial police chiefs, said police in Indonesia, Singapore and neighboring countries were coordinating to locate Kastari.
"As of today, his (Kastari's) whereabouts have not been detected, but we are remaining alert," Sutanto said.
However, the high-profile jailbreak has led to grumbling among the top brass of the Indonesian police.
A former spokesman for the National Police, Insp. Gen. Sisno Adiwinoto, said Indonesia was forced to deal with most of the fallout from the escape.
"The Singaporean jail is known for its extra maximum security, so how was he (Kastari) able to flee? That is what we need to question. What is behind all of this?" said Sisno, who on Monday was installed as the South Sulawesi Police chief, replacing Insp. Gen. Arianto Boedihardjo.
Sisno said it would be difficult for Kastari, the alleged leader of the Singapore wing of regional terror group JI, to find shelter in Indonesia.
"There is no easy entry to Indonesia that Kastari could get through. The security along Indonesian borders is very tight right now," he said.
Indonesian police arrested Kastari, a Singaporean national, on Bintan Island in Riau, near Singapore, in February 2003 for ID card and passport falsification. He was flown to Surabaya, East Java, where the local district court sentenced him to 18 months in prison, before Indonesian authorities extradited him in 2006.
Kastari was accused of plotting to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi airport in Singapore in 2001.
Since being extradited to Singapore, he had been held under the city-state's Internal Security Act at Whitley prison. He was never formally charged in Singapore.
He escaped from prison after being permitted to use the toilet during a visit by family members.
Indonesian National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam said police in the country's border provinces, such as Riau, had been put on heightened alert. They are particularly focusing on sea routes.
"Our personnel are intensifying operations in those areas to prevent Kastari from entering Indonesia," Anton said.
Indonesian police have circulated pictures of Kastari across the country.
Police in Singapore told their Indonesian counterparts that Kastari could be identified by a limp he has while running.
Indonesian police promised Monday to work closely with their Singaporean counterparts in the hunt for Jamaah Islamiyah member Mas Selamat Kastari, who escaped from a maximum security prison in Singapore last week.
National Police chief Gen. Sutanto, speaking in Jakarta after installing six new provincial police chiefs, said police in Indonesia, Singapore and neighboring countries were coordinating to locate Kastari.
"As of today, his (Kastari's) whereabouts have not been detected, but we are remaining alert," Sutanto said.
However, the high-profile jailbreak has led to grumbling among the top brass of the Indonesian police.
A former spokesman for the National Police, Insp. Gen. Sisno Adiwinoto, said Indonesia was forced to deal with most of the fallout from the escape.
"The Singaporean jail is known for its extra maximum security, so how was he (Kastari) able to flee? That is what we need to question. What is behind all of this?" said Sisno, who on Monday was installed as the South Sulawesi Police chief, replacing Insp. Gen. Arianto Boedihardjo.
Sisno said it would be difficult for Kastari, the alleged leader of the Singapore wing of regional terror group JI, to find shelter in Indonesia.
"There is no easy entry to Indonesia that Kastari could get through. The security along Indonesian borders is very tight right now," he said.
Indonesian police arrested Kastari, a Singaporean national, on Bintan Island in Riau, near Singapore, in February 2003 for ID card and passport falsification. He was flown to Surabaya, East Java, where the local district court sentenced him to 18 months in prison, before Indonesian authorities extradited him in 2006.
Kastari was accused of plotting to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi airport in Singapore in 2001.
Since being extradited to Singapore, he had been held under the city-state's Internal Security Act at Whitley prison. He was never formally charged in Singapore.
He escaped from prison after being permitted to use the toilet during a visit by family members.
Indonesian National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Anton Bahrul Alam said police in the country's border provinces, such as Riau, had been put on heightened alert. They are particularly focusing on sea routes.
"Our personnel are intensifying operations in those areas to prevent Kastari from entering Indonesia," Anton said.
Indonesian police have circulated pictures of Kastari across the country.
Police in Singapore told their Indonesian counterparts that Kastari could be identified by a limp he has while running.