(We) have set up a joint command post to trace and investigate the cause of the fire, ranging from gathering and questioning witnesses and sending a team of the forensic laboratory center to conducting an in-depth investigation into the cause of theJakarta (ANTARA) - The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) conducted the questioning of 19 witnesses under an investigation into the cause of a fire ravaging the Attorney General's Office in South Jakarta on the weekend.
"A total of 19 people were questioned as witnesses," Bareskrim Chief Commissioner General Listyo Sigit Prabowo noted in a press statement released on Monday.
The witnesses comprised on-duty security guards, construction workers, and some employees of the Attorney General's Office.
Prabowo spoke of having ordered his men to probe the cause behind the fire.
Bareskrim has also dispatched a team of the forensic laboratory center of the National Police to uncover the cause of the fire, he remarked.
Prabowo made assurance of a professional and transparent investigation into the cause of the fire.
To this end, Prabowo appealed to the public to not speculate over the cause of the fire but rather to supervise the process of unearthing the reason behind it.
"(We) have set up a joint command post to trace and investigate the cause of the fire, ranging from gathering and questioning witnesses and sending a team of the forensic laboratory center to conducting in-depth investigation into the cause of the fire. May it be revealed soon," he stated.
Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Mahfud M. D. noted earlier that the government had formed a joint command post directed by the Bareskrim chief and the junior attorney general for general crimes.
The command post will investigate the cause of the fire that broke out at the Attorney General's Office at around 7:10 p.m. local time on Saturday.
Mahfud also appealed to the public to not overly speculate the cause of the fire and to await the conclusion of the investigation process.
"The government never makes an assumption linking it (the fire) to certain cases as that amounts to speculation. Hence, let us await the process," he remarked.
A fire broke out at the Attorney General's office in South Jakarta at 7:10 p.m. local time on Saturday night.
The Jakarta Fire Department managed to extinguish the blaze at 6:28 a.m. local time on Sunday after deploying 56 fire trucks and 300 firefighters.
Spokesman for the Attorney General's Office Hari Setiyono noted that important data or documents were not ravaged in the fire though the office of the assistant attorney general for intelligence and the human resources department incurred damage.
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EDITED BY INE
Translator: Anita Permata D/Suharto
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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