"If the perpetrator is proven guilty of setting fire to land intentionally, which led to the death of three orangutans, he will face multiple charges," Chief of the Bontang City Police Adjunct Senior Commissioner Hendra Kurniawan said here on Monday.
The perpetrator may be charged with setting fire to land and killing endangered animal species, he said.
"We are focusing on investigating whether the land was set to fire intentionally. The investigation, in which members of the Kutai National Park Center (TNK) have also joined in, is aimed at uncovering this fact. If it is found that this indeed happened, then it will be investigated as to who was the perpetrator. That is what we are investigating now," he said.
The police have investigated several witnesses, including the resident who claims to be the owner of the land which caught fire, he said.
Although the owner of the land denied setting fire to the land or ordering other people to do so, the police are trying to collect information from other witnesses, he said.
Head of the Kutai National Park Office Erly Sukrismanto confirmed on Sunday that three orangutans had died near the protected forest in Bontang city, East Kalimantan.
"The land fire occurred yesterday (Saturday). We came to know about the death of the three orangutans in the land fire only after a resident uploaded pictures on the social media this morning. When I checked the scene of the land fire on Sunday afternoon, I found three orangutans had been killed in the fire," he said.
After investigating the death of the orangutans, a joint team of officers from the Kutai National Park, the Bontang city police and a number of relevant agencies buried the three orangutans, he said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
