Indonesian police, ridiculed for their inability to capture disgraced former President Suharto's fugitive son, yesterday extended their manhunt after a search of the Suharto estate proved fruitless.
A handful of prosecutors and police, crowded by more than 100 journalists, marched from house to house in the estate in Jakarta's elite, leafy Menteng area looking for Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, on the run from a jail term for graft.
"Tommy was not found and we will continue our efforts to search for him helped by the police," South Jakarta attorney-general's office chief Antasari Azhar said.
He said the hunt would be extended throughout Indonesia.
Attorney-General Marzuki Darusman has ordered police to arrest Tommy, on the run since Friday from an 18-month jail sentence for an US$11 million land scam. President Abdurrahman Wahid has now ordered Darusman to report every two hours.
The search, which was announced on Tuesday and covered widely in the media, started with Tommy's own house, but investigators found only a maid at home.
"There's no one there, just a maid," Fachmi, chief prosecutor with the South Jakarta attorney-general's office, said after checking Tommy's home.
Meanwhile, a court yesterday ruled that a corruption trial against former President Suharto, dropped on the grounds that the frail ex-despot was too ill, should resume.
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