REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Jakarta Metropolitan Police have set up special teams to investigate the recent acid attack on senior anti-graft agency prosecutor Novel Baswedan.
"The teams consist of members from the regional police command, the resort police, and the sector police led by the director of general crime investigation," Jakarta Metropiltan Police spokesman Senior Commissioner Argo Yuwono said here on Thursday.
He stated that the two special teams had three groups with 10 members each to uncover the case. He noted that the police believed Novel had been attacked with sulfuric acid based on analysis so far. It was a highly corrosive strong mineral acid.
A total of 16 witnesses have been questioned so far to identify the attackers on the former police member.
Two men attacked Baswedan as he was walking home after attending the dawn prayer at a nearby mosque at 5.10am in Kelapa Gading housing complex on Tuesday.
The attack resulted in injuries to his face as well as left eye, while the attackers were still at large.
He is now receiving treatment at a hospital in Singapore. Novel, who is currently handling high-profile corruption cases, has been frequently terrorized and attacked.
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In 2016, he was hit by a car while driving a motorcycle on his way to the KPK building. The retired policeman had also been criminalized and named a suspect in a maltreatment case in Bengkulu in 2015.
In 2012, his motorcycle was seriously damaged after being attacked by supporters of Amran Batalipu, the former district head of Buol, who is now in prison for corruption.
The latest case being handled by Novel is the alleged mega corruption case of e-ID card project allegedly involving prominent politicians.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has condemned the acid attack on Novel, saying it was a brutal criminal act.
"It is a brutal act. I condemn it in the strongest terms, and I order the national police chief to find those responsible," he informed journalists at the State Palace here on Tuesday.
The head of state noted that such criminal acts should not recur against any integrated investigators of the graft body, and they must continue to work in high spirits.
Following this incident, Widodo has also called on the KPK investigators to remain cautious and alert.
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