Police Name 2 Suspects In The Gas Toxic Case Of PT Pindo Deli 2 Karawang

Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Karawang Police, AKP Abdul Jalil. (ANTARA/Ali Khumaini)

The Karawang District Police have named two suspects in the PT Pindo Deli 2 gas pipeline leak which resulted in hundreds of residents of Kutamekar Village, Ciampel District, Karawang, West Java being poisoned on Saturday (20/1).

"The two people who were named as suspects each had the initials MD, the Head of the Shift Storage Chlorine and the initials RP, the Head of the Filling Station Chlorine Team," said Head of Criminal Investigation Unit of the Karawang Police AKP Abdul Jalil as reported by ANTARA, Monday, February 5.

After the examination, the two men are now officially suspects in the crime of protection and environmental management of the PT Pindo Deli 2 gas pipeline leak.

According to him, the determination of the two suspects was based on the facts found by the Karawang Environment and Manpower and Transmigration Office and the National Police Headquarters Laboratory.

In accordance with the examination of the Karawang Manpower and Transmigration Office, it was found that PT Pindo Deli 2 did not have standard operating procedures related to handling damage to the filling pipeline and was not listed in the hazard potential control document.

In addition, the potential hazard has not been identified during the process of repairing the filling pipeline.

Meanwhile, based on the findings of the Puslabfor Police Headquarters, it was found that at the time of the incident the gas detector in the caustic soda plant area showed an alarm of an increase in chlorine gas by <10 ppm with an average duration of 30 minutes and tended to decrease until a few hours later.

At the location, the Puslabfor team found a pipe that had a leak originating from Chlorine Storage to the hypochloryte tank which was suspected to be the main cause of the release of chlorine gas into the air.

Meanwhile, the results of the checks carried out by the Karawang Environment Agency found that previously the incident of a chlorine gas leak in the caustic soda unit PT Pindo Deli 2 had occurred four times.

Among them occurred in November 2017 until finally the company was subject to administrative sanctions. Then it happened again in May 2018 which ended with administrative sanctions.

Furthermore, in June 2021 and September 2022, administrative sanctions will be imposed.

"Two suspects have now been detained at the Karawang Police Headquarters detention center," he said.

The two suspects were charged with environmental protection and management as referred to in Article 99 paragraph (2) in conjunction with Article 116 of the Indonesian Constitution Number 32 of 2009 with a maximum penalty of three years in prison.