Pekanbaru Police Arrest Man Dalang From 1 Hectare Land Fire

The suspect RP who allegedly caused a 1 ha land fire in Pekanbaru was arrested by the police. (ANTARA/HO-Polresta Pekanbaru)

PekanbarU - Pekanbaru Police, Riau Province, arrested a man with the initials RP (43) because he was suspected of being the mastermind behind a land fire on Jalan Cipta Nusa, Tebing Tinggi Okura Village, East Rumbai District. "The area of the burned land is 1 hectare. The RP has been named a suspect based on the results of the case title," explained the Head of the Pekanbaru Police, Kompol Bery Juana Putra, Antara, Wednesday, July 26. The RP is suspected of causing a fire after initially intending to burn garbage and wooden basins around the land, Tuesday, July 25 yesterday. Based on witness testimony, initially the witness saw the land belonging to Sanusi Anwar and Supardi burned at around 13.30 WIB. Then it was reported to the authorities and from the results of the crime scene and evidence, the perpetrator of the arson pointed to RP. When interrogated RP also admitted his actions. "The RP has been arrested and is currently being held in the Pekanbaru Police detention cell for further processing," said Bery. Kompol Bery explained that from the results of the examination and the confrontation the land owner was not involved. The suspect RP also acknowledged this.

His party appealed not to clear land by burning because forest and land burners were threatened with 15 years in prison and a fine of 10 billion. This is regulated in Law number 14 of 1999 concerning Forestry, Law no. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management, Law no. 39 of 2014 concerning Plantation and Article 187 of the Criminal Code.