In The Last Month, 50 Hectares Of Forest In Bengkalis Burned

The Bengkalis Police stated that 50 hectares of land in Bengkalis had been burned since the last month so that it had caused thick smog while the suspected perpetrator had not been found.

"Until now, no suspect has been arrested because of a number of obstacles faced by the Satreskrim team," said Bengkalis Police Chief AKBP Setyo Bimo to the media, quoted by ANTARA, Sunday, May 21.

The burned land occurred in Pelintung, Dumai Village and Tanjung Leban Village, Bengkalis Regency

Setyo said that for the forest and land fire case, his party had raised the case to the investigation stage, while to determine the suspect, there were still some obstacles encountered by investigators in the field.

He said investigators did not find any slashing or clearing of the land by slashing on the burned land.

"The condition of the burned land is still thick and there are no plants or no activities, making it difficult to determine the suspect in the case," said Setyo.

In addition, the police also did not find a witness who saw who was suspected of burning and to investigate this case, investigators needed to be careful in determining the suspect.

Meanwhile, for witnesses who had been examined during the investigation, there were 9 people and 1 person from fire experts and environmental damage.

"The forest and land fires on the border of Dumai City and Bengkalis Regency occurred on April 19, 2023 and more than 50 hectares of burned land occurred in Pelintung Dumai Village and Tanjung Leban Village, Bengkalis Regency. At that time, the joint team tried to extinguish the fire, supported by helicopters, carrying out water bombings," he said.