Several members of our team are training their sights on the forest. We are also evaluating the possibility of Cai fleeing to other places.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Jakarta Metropolitan Police questioned 14 witnesses in connection with the escape of a Chinese death row drug convict from the Tangerang class 1 correctional facility last month.

The witnesses comprised wardens, jail mates, and the convict's wife, Chief of the Public Relations Bureau of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Senior Commissioner Yusri Yunus stated here on Thursday.

Yunus affirmed that the police had formed a special team comprising personnel of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police, Tangerang City Police, and the correctional facility to launch a manhunt for the Chinese death row convict identified as Cai Changpan.

The team members will be deployed to several locations believed to be Changpan’s hideouts, including the Tenjo Forest in Bogor District, West Java, located in proximity to his house, Yunus revealed.

"Several members of our team are training their sights on the forest. We are also evaluating the possibility of Cai fleeing to other places," he stated.

In addition to the manhunt, the police have come up with a wanted list bearing the photograph of the Chinese national.

"By distributing the wanted list and the photograph of the convict, the public could provide information to the police on the hideouts of the convict through 081253178671," he noted.

Changpan escaped from the correctional facility on Sept 14, 2020, through a sewer connected to the tunnel that he had dug out.

Based on the preliminary investigation, the police opined that Cai had planned to escape by digging the tunnel since the past six months.

Cai was believed to have procured the tools to dig the tunnel from a kitchen construction project at the correctional facility.

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Translator: Fianda Sjofjan Rassat/Suharto
Editor: Sri Haryati
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