Oops, Trying To Fight Extortion, Lumajang Regent Thoriqul Haq Threatens To Kill

Regent of Lumajang Thoriqul Haq. (Youtube screenshot; LumajangTV)

JAKARTA – Lumajang Regent, Thoriqul Haq, had to accept the harsh reality when he tried to curb illegal levies. He who carried out the order in the Lumajang Regency, East Java, was threatened with death by unscrupulous persons after controlling the extortion in a sand mine.

The big challenge is being a public official trying to enforce the rules. Ironically, family members who are not directly related to this issue must also suffer the consequences. Her children were also threatened. A struggle that is not easy.

He told about this incident when he was a guest on Mata Najwa (Trans7) on Wednesday, June 16. Not only him, but several other sources also tell of various practices to eradicate extortion. Don't mess around, your life is at stake.

This issue arose after President Jokowi previously asked the National Police Chief General, Listyo Sigit Prabowo, to curb the practice of extortion that occurred at the Tanjung Priok Port in Jakarta not long ago. After that, the police acted quickly by arresting several persons suspected of committing extortion.

It turns out that extortion does not only occur in Tanjung Priok but many other places with various modes and patterns. However, when someone tried to curb this illegal act, the reactions they received were varied. As happened to the Regent of Lumajang, Thoriqul Haq.

He was threatened with death via a smartphone text message. "I feel the challenge is tough. Threats in the form of me being killed via WhatsApp message, with an unidentifiable number", Thoriqul said.

Not only that he received, his children who had nothing to do with this issue were also affected. Threats also occur to her child who is now continuing his studies in the city of Surabaya. “The photo where my child has been pocketed. What does it mean? This definitely worries me. Meanwhile, I live in Lumajang, far from my children”, he said.

If this is the case as a human being, Thoriq is undecided between continuing law enforcement or stopping because there are already threats to himself and also to his family.

All of this is the aftermath of the inspections he carried out on extortion in the management of a truck weighing service. At that time he discovered that there was a falsification of the MoU between the Lumajang government and a third party.

Regent of Lumajang Thoriqul Haq. (Youtube screenshot; LumajangTV)

At that time, Thoriq discovered that there was a falsification of the MoU of the Lumajang Regency Government with third parties or the private sector regarding the unification of taxes and weighing fees. Thoriq said this policy has existed since 2005. And there was a dispute in the court, uniquely the local government lost but the use of weighing services continued.

His party did an inspection, that's when the practice of extortion was found. Through this practice, local governments have lost billions of rupiahs. That's what saddens him. The local government, still said Thoriq, only earns IDR 1.5 billion per year. Meanwhile, those who commit extortion can earn IDR 3 billion per month. Where did the count come from? "I calculated the assumption like this, IDR 150 thousand per track, if every day the track is 700 x 30, it's an average of IDR 3 billion", said Thoriq.

Therefore, the Regent of Lumajang, Thoriq Haq, tried his best to eradicate extortion. This is not only in the mining sector but also in other sectors. But ironically he had to face death threats for his decisive action.