Best of our wild blogs: 29 Aug 18

Dive with Us!
Hantu Blog

The Day I Shed Blood on Pulau Ubin
Wan's Ubin Journal

Asian Koel Raids Pied Triller’s Nest
Singapore Bird Group

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Woman injured in wild boar incident near Punggol condo

Channel NewsAsia 28 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE: A woman in her 30s was taken to hospital on Tuesday (Aug 28) after an encounter with a wild boar in Punggol.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) responded to a call for medical assistance at 5.15pm along the road at 51 Edgefield Plains, near Waterbay condominium.

The woman was knocked over by the boar outside the executive condominium. The animal then ran into the condo's rubbish collection point, Channel 8 News reported, citing tip-offs from members of the public.

A photo of a woman with a bloodied wound on her leg has also been circulating on social media.

The Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (ACRES) said it received a call at around 5pm about a wild boar in the area.

"We understand that there was an apparent conflict between the boar and a lady but unfortunately we do not have any information on that," deputy chief executive Kalai Vanan said. "To our knowledge, the boar subsequently entered a condominium where it found itself stranded."

The wild boar was sedated and relocated, he said, adding that it was likely that the animal had come from Lorong Halus.

"Development works in that area could have caused this individual to venture out and subsequently finding itself lost in the urban area," he said.

"Feeding by people may have had a part to play as well to cause the animal to venture out as well."

Channel NewsAsia has contacted the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority for comment.

Source: CNA/na(hm)


Woman injured by wild boar in Punggol
Tee Zhuo Straits Times 29 Aug 18;

A woman was taken to hospital after she was injured by a wild boar in Punggol yesterday.

The incident occurred near Punggol Secondary School, which is a few bus stops away from a forested area that is being cleared for development.

The Straits Times understands that the injured woman is an employee of the school and she had lacerations on her right leg.

The wild boar was later found in a nearby executive condominium and was captured by staff from the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres).

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said it responded to a call for medical assistance around 5.15pm at 51 Edgefield Plains, the address of the school.

A woman in her 30s was taken to Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, the SCDF added.

Mr Kalai Vanan, deputy chief executive of Acres, said that it received a call at about 5pm.

He said the boar later entered a condominium where it found itself stranded. He added that Acres sedated the wild boar and took it away.

The Straits Times understands that the condominium is the Waterbay executive condominium.

Mr Kalai said the wild boar could have come from the Lorong Halus wetland located along the eastern bank of Serangoon Reservoir.

While it was not known why the boar was roaming around an urban area, Mr Kalai said that development works might have been to blame.

"Feeding by people may have had a part to play in causing the animal to venture out as well," he said.

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Malaysia: Strong Borneo wind brings back the haze up north

arnold loh The Star 29 Aug 18;

GEORGE TOWN: A strong Borneo wind blowing east to west – over 1,600km away – is bringing up smoke from more than 20 detected forest fires in West Kalimantan into the Southwest Monsoon and towards northern Malaysia.

And this will continue for the next few days, according to Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre’s (ASMC) Regional Haze Situation Analysis yesterday.

ASMC’s satellite has so far registered 22 hotspots in West Kali­mantan and four in Sumatra as at Monday.

Wind current readings show that Kalimantan’s smoke was pushed into the southern end of the Straits of Malacca before the Southwest Monsoon took over and blew it northerly all along Peninsular Malaysia.

Even Langkawi was not spared, with a reading of 53.

The archipelago’s API was in the mild 30s early this month when the haze started worsening in Penang.

The only API gauge in the country returning a good reading was in Tawau, Sabah, at 33.

Readings for Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya were ranging from 59 to 74.

Last week, northern Malaysia had a brief respite from the haze and a tropical storm called Bebinca ravaged Vietnam with winds that exceeded 95kph.

The storm’s influence gave the region storm clouds from Andaman Sea in the west, diverting Indonesia’s haze away from the northern states.

Total ban on open burning in plantations in Sarawak
stephen then The Star 28 Aug 18;

MIRI: Sarawak has imposed a total ban on open burning in plantations.

The directive was issued by the state via the Sarawak Natural Resources and Environment Board.

Board chairman Peter Sawal issued the written directive on Tuesday (Aug 28).

The Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department is among the agencies tasked with monitoring the ban.

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Malaysia: Conservationists despair as four more Borneo Pygmy elephants found dead in Sabah's east coast

muguntan vanar The Star 28 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: Four more Borneo Pygmy elephants, including a cow and its calf shot by poachers, have died over the weekend, with a fifth injured by snare traps in the state's east coast.

The latest deaths bring to 24 the number of elephants killed since April this year, with shocked wildlife officials and conservationists despairing of ever finding a solution.

According to sources, the dead pygmy elephants involved a cow and its calf, while another died after a tree fell on it, and a fourth was found dead, though the cause is not known.

The fifth is being treated for snare wounds. The incident occurred in the Lahad Datu and Kinabatangan areas.

With an estimated 1,500 elephants left in Sabah’s wild, conservationists are hoping for more tougher action to be taken by the Wildlife and state Forestry Department in tackling poaching and other problems.

Without referring to the latest deaths, on Tuesday (Aug 28), WWF Malaysia said that more elephants were dying despite actions taken by the enforcement authorities and NGOs to end the problem in Sabah.

Noting that some 25 elephants died since the beginning of 2018, WWF said that at least four have died due to snare trap-related injuries at plantations around Sg Taliwas Forest Reserve and Sapagaya Forest Reserve.

WWF-Malaysia together with the Sabah Forestry Department and the Sabah Wildlife Department have worked together to conduct joint anti -snaring operations (Ops Jerat) to remove snares in the forest reserves that are bordering plantations.

A total of five operations have been carried out and have so far unearthed 25 snares in forest reserves, 16 hunting platforms in both forest reserves and surrounding plantations, and five pitfall traps that measured about seven feet deep.

WWF Malaysia will continue the Ops Jerat collaboration with the government, particularly in identified poaching hot spots.

WWF Malaysia said that snares are commonly used by poachers, where they are placed along animal trails in forest reserves bordering plantations with the intention of catching wild boars and deer.

“Though elephants are very rarely the target of poachers, they commonly fall victim to these devices.

“This is because elephants use the same trails as other wildlife causing them to become a product of by-catch since snares indiscriminately kill wildlife,” WWF said.

“The time has come for someone to shoulder the responsibility for the death of elephants, especially those occurring on their land.

"In order to stop the premature deaths of one of Borneo’s most iconic species, strong actions must be taken and they must be taken now,” WWF added.

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Indonesia: Six more orangutans set free in forest habitat

Antara 29 Aug 18;

The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) released six orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in the Kehje Sewen jungle, Kutai Timur, East Kalimantan. (ANTARA/Yudhi Mahatma)

Balikpapan, E. Kalimantan, (ANTARA News) - The Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation (BOSF) has marked the country's 73rd Independence Day commemoration by releasing six orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) in the Kehje Sewen jungle in East Kutai district, East Kalimantan.

"The wildlife also are entitled to enjoying the Independence Day celebration especially orangutan, which is the wildlife species protected by the state," Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BOSF Dr Jamartin Sihite said here on Monday.

The six orangutans were the 19th group released since 2012. They had been years in the Reintroduction Center in Samboja Lestari, 47 kilometers north of Balikpapan taught how to live as wild orangutans.

Dr Sihite gave stress on the importance of preserving orangutans. He said wild orangutans have important contribution to preserving forest ecosystem. Orangutans are species which move around all corners of forests that the varieties of flora in forest area better protected sustaining their regeneration.

"They scatter flora seeds through their feces. Orangutans also open a bit the canopy of forests allowing the sun ray to penetrate the forest land, helping small trees to grow," Dr Sihite said.

In turn, protected forests will provide clean and fresh water and air, in addition to various forest products and keep conducive climate change, he added.

Not all of the six orangutans released came directly from the Samboja Lestari Reintroduction Center. Two of them, 11-year-old females Menur and Josta, lived for months in the Kehje Sewen jungle, a 82.84 forest area surrounded by wide ditch and river bordering on an oil palm plantations PT Nusaraya Agro Sawit in Muara Wahau, Kutai Timur.

The other four are males - Mads (8), Riva (7), Biber (7), and Restu (6).

In the past several years BOSF has involved many agencies and organizations in the preservation of orangutan.

"It is because the big conservation job could not be handled alone by BKSDA and BOSF," head of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) of East Kalimantan Sunandar Trigunajasa said.

Reporting by Novi Abdi
Editing by A. Saragih
Editor: Sri Haryati

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Indonesia: Police may punish officers in whale shark incident in Yogyakarta

The Jakarta Post 28 Aug 18;

The Yogyakarta Police are considering punishing three officers who were photographed standing on top of a dead whale shark that was stranded on a beach in Parangkusumo.

The photo, which shows the officers posing with their fists raised, was uploaded by television host Robby Purba on his Instagram account.

In the picture, two officers stand on the back of the whale shark’s carcass, while one officer squats on its head.

The picture sparked outrage among netizens and animal lovers, who claimed that what the officers did was inappropriate.

The Yogyakarta Police offered an apology on its official Twitter account @PoldaJogja following the protests.

“Regarding the incident of our three officers who were caught on camera climbing on the top of a dead whale shark, we apologize. There was no specific intent behind the incident,” it said.

Yogyakarta Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. Yulianto said the police's internal affairs division had launched an investigation into the officers' conduct.

“We’re currently determining what kind of punishment is appropriate for them,” he said on Tuesday, as quoted by kompas.com, adding that the officers deeply regretted their action.

Early on Monday morning, a fisherman found the 4-meter whale shark stranded on the beach.

The animal was still alive at the time it was found by the fisherman but died within an hour.

Yogyakarta Water Police arrived at the scene in the afternoon to help the Yogyakarta Natural Resource Conservation Agency (BKSDA) retrieve samples from the fish, as well as to bury it on the beach.

Residents flocked to the beach to see the dead fish, as well as to watch the authorities bury it, which took two hours with the help of an excavator. (ris/ipa)

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Best of our wild blogs: 28 Aug 18

1 Sep (Sat) - Free guided walk at Pasir Ris Mangroves
Adventures with the Naked Hermit Crabs

Urban Surprises: Cordia dichotoma and Antidesma bunius
Flying Fish Friends

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NTU to ban free plastic bags from Oct 1

Venessa Lee Straits Times 28 Aug 18;

SINGAPORE - Plastic bags will not be given out for free on Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) premises from Oct 1, a move that could save nearly 10 million plastic bags a year.

As part of the university's five-year growth plan, which has a strong focus on environmental consciousness, NTU president Subra Suresh announced the ban on issuing plastic bags at campus events, as well as at retail and food outlets, on Monday (August 27).

An NTU spokesman later told The Straits Times that to encourage people to bring their own shopping bags, free plastic bags will be given out only upon request from Sept 3.

From Oct 1, the retailers on campus, including Prime and Giant, will charge $0.20 per bag.

"The proceeds from the sale of these bags will go towards NTU's student assistance funding. This is NTU walking the talk on sustainability," said the spokesman.

"Beyond sustainability research and smart buildings, this is the behavioural aspect of sustainability that can involve the entire community, which is just as important as advancements in technology."

Based on an average of 1.6 plastic bags per household per day, and with NTU's 17,000-strong community, it is looking at a saving of almost 10 million bags per year, added the spokesman.

NTU's new $180m business school to be Asia's largest wooden building
According to a recent study commissioned by the Singapore Environment Council, shoppers in Singapore take 820 million plastic bags from supermarkets every year. The council estimated that 820 million bags would cover an area 126 times the size of Gardens by the Bay.

NTU students welcomed the move to ban free plastic bags.

Undergraduate Belinda Yeow, 22, praised the initiative, saying that charging for plastic bags would discourage their use.

Another undergraduate Abigail Chia, 22, said: "It would be a good example for Singapore in general."

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Malaysia: Trap laid for Bornean sun bear who attacked retiree

Poliana Ronnie Sidom New Straits Times 27 Aug 18;

SANDAKAN: The Sabah Wildlife Department has installed cameras and traps in efforts to capture a protected Bornean sun bear that attacked a villager at Kampung Entilibon in Tongod here, last week.

District Wildlife Officer Hussein Mui said the devices were installed at a forest near the village last Friday with assistance from the Bornean Sun Bear Conservation Centre.

“The victim of the attacked helped the us in checking on the traps. We believe the sun bear is still in the nearby forest.

“Although there is no report of the bear reappearing at the village or attacking other villagers, we hope the local community will remain alert and be careful with the presence of the animal,” Hussein told the New Straits Times today.

Last Monday, a 58-year-old retired teacher Jackson Yongki sustained leg injury after being attacked by a sun bear.

Yongki was planting padi with his two teenage sons when the bear suddenly charged at them in the 7.30am incident.

The bear was at first trying to attack one of the boys, but Yongki rescued his children by beating the bear with a piece of wood.

The trio tried to escape from the bear, but it bit Yongki’s leg after he fell down at a muddy area. The sun bear then fled into the forest. The latest incident is the second sighting of sun bear in Tongod in recent months

The first sighting was of a sun bear cub at a logging camp area.

Hussein said the district Wildlife Office would be setting up a WhatsApp group with villagers, so they can easily channel information to the authority’s personnel whenever they need action to be taken in future sun bear sightings.


Wildlife dept hunting for hostile sun bear
The Star 28 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: Wildlife officials are on the hunt for a Borneo sun bear which reportedly attacked a villager in Sabah’s central Tongod district last week.

Sabah Wildlife Department officer for Sandakan Hussein Mui said traps and cameras had been installed around the area where the attack occurred.

The devices were installed at a forest near Kampung Entilibon. The officers were assisted by staff from the Borneo Sun Bear Conservation Centre last Friday.

“There is still no sign of the bear for now. But we have issued alerts to villagers asking them to contact us immediately if they see it,” he said in a statement yesterday.

“We believe the sun bear is still in the nearby forest,” he added.

He said they would also be setting up a WhatsApp group with the villagers to ensure that information could be channelled to the authorities as quickly as possible in case of future incidents or sightings.

Yongki sustained leg injuries during the attack last Monday.

He was planting padi with his two teenage sons when the sun bear suddenly charged at them in the 7.30am incident.

The bear is said to have first tried to attack one of the boys, but Yongki rescued his children by beating the bear with a piece of wood.

They then tried to escape, but the bear bit Yongki’s leg after he fell down in a muddy area. The animal then fled into the forest.

The latest incident is the second sun bear sighting in Tongod in recent months.

The first sighting was of a bear cub at a logging camp area in the district.

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Malaysia: Sabah steps up efforts to destroy jumbo snare traps

The Star 28 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: Efforts to find and destroy snare traps responsible for a number of injuries and deaths of Sabah’s critically endangered pgymy elephants have been carried out, says state Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Christina Liew.

She said wildlife officials had been on the ground doing this for some time.

“We hope plantation owners and anyone else who comes across snare traps can help by destroying them or informing the authorities immediately for the sake of our wildlife,” she said here yesterday.

Liew was speaking at a press conference after launching the Umbrelephant Campaign aimed at creating more awareness and efforts to protect elephants.

Liew said the state government would continue to step up efforts to conserve and protect the pgymy elephants, whose numbers have gone down to about 2,000.

She said the decreasing number of the pygmy elephants was alarming.

“We must act now and help from all sides is needed, especially from estate owners and workers, as they work in areas where the elephants are usually found,” she added.

Meanwhile, efforts to conserve and protect pygmy elephants and other endangered wildlife in Sabah have been boosted with the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) between a private company and the state.

The MoA between Genting Plan­tations Bhd and Sabah Wildlife Department would see the oil palm estate managements leave out some 44ha of land to allow for elephant roaming.

Liew said the effort would see elephants and other wildlife having more space to roam.

“This will reduce the risk of human-elephant conflicts and prevent the elephants from walking into snare traps, which have caused many elephant deaths,” she said.

She also said the MoA would act as a pioneer project and hopefully encourage more plantations and estate owners to take part.

Liew said a campaign to instil love for animal protection among schoolchildren had also been introduced in schools.

Five schools from the outskirts have signed up to be part of the campaign so far.

Genting Plantations sets aside 44.5ha to protect pygmy elephants in Sabah
stephanie lee The Star 27 Aug 18;

KOTA KINABALU: Borneo pygmy elephants and other endangered wildlife in Sabah may soon have more space to roam free thanks to a partnership between a plantation company and the state government.

A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between Genting Plantations Berhad and Sabah Wildlife Department would see the former set aside 44.5ha of oil palm plantation land for wildlife conservation.

Sabah Tourism, Culture and Environment minister Christina Liew said the effort would see elephants and other wildlife having more spaces to roam.

"It is giving them an undisturbed area to go to, reducing the risk of human-elephant conflict or walking into snare traps which have caused many elephant deaths," she said.

Liew said the MoA would act as a pioneer project and hopefully encourage more plantations and estate owners to take part.

"We hope this can help protect and prevent any more elephant and wildlife deaths," she said, adding there were only some 2,000 Borneo pygmy elephants left in Sabah.

Meanwhile, she said the campaign, which is also being introduced in schools, is seen as a catalyst to instil a love for animal protection amongst students.

"We want to start them from young and hope to get all schools in Sabah to jump on board with us," Liew said.

There are so far five schools from the outskirts that have signed up to be part of the campaign.

In other developments, she said wildlife officials were making "aggressive efforts" to find and remove snare traps near forest reserves and estates.

"We want to also bring plantation owners together in this effort and have them take action against their employees (if any) who set up snare traps," Liew added.

Dozens of pygmy elephants in Sabah's east coast have been found dead while many were rescued from snare traps over the past eight months.

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Indonesia: South Kalimantan hopes for more rain to cope with forest fires

Sukarli Antara 27 Aug 18;

Military and police personnel in South Kalimantan extinguished residual burning embers on the land in the Damar Banjarbaru Guntung village, South Kalimantan Province. (ANTARA Photo/Herry Murdy Hermawan)

Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - The people of South Kalimantan hope that rain would fall again to send away haze of smokes that begin to blanket some areas in the province.

The people in Banjarmasin and Banjarbaru and surrounding areas breathed with relief after rainfall for two hours clearing the air from haze .

Three days earlier, smokes from forest and bush fires blanketed a large area in South Kalimantan causing inconvenience in 13 district areas especially in rural areas.

In Banjarmasin, the city of a thousand rivers, the smell of burnt wood enter the houses causing breathing difficulty.

At Jalan Trikora of Banjarbaru the cloud was still thick on Sunday limiting vision not far from 500 meter, and motorists have to wear masker.

Forest and bush fires hit 13 districts areas since January, 2018 ravaging 1,000 hectares of tropical forests and plantation areas.

Fires destroyed 266.1 hectares of forests and plantations in the districts of Banjarbaru, 259 hectares in Tanah Laut (Tala), 182 hectares in Banjar, 116 hectares in Hulu Sungai Selatan , 95 hectares in Tapin, and 34.5 hectares in Tanah Bumbu (Tanbu); 4.25 hectares in Kota Banjarmasin, 4.25 hectares in Hulu Sungai Tengah, 4.3 hectares in Barito Kuala (Batola), 5 hectares in Kotabaru , 10 hectares in Balangan, 11.5 hectares in Hulu Sungai Utara (HSU) and 13.5 hectares in Tabalong.

Earlier this month in West Kalimantan smokes have forced the City Administration of Pontianak, the provincial city, to close schools for several days.

Smokes from forest fires are feared to cause health hazard, the city Mayor Sutarmidji said here on Monday, adding the smokes were getting thicker causing breathing difficulty.

A school teacher Yudi in the city said the smokes caused loss of concentration of the students.

"The impact is worse in the past week . Everybody has to wear masker when they are out on the street," Yudi said.

Forest fires have been a problem almost every year in Kalimantan during dry season.

In South Sumatra, especially around the provincial city of Palembang, the authorities have to be more on guard against forest fires otherwise haze of smokes could disrupt the Asian Games now underway in the city until Sept. 2.

Police and military personnel were on guard in areas in the villages and other places around the city to make sure that the city is safe from the inconvenience caused by smokes.

Farmers are strictly prohibited from using fires to clear farmlands as fires easily spread to hit peat lands and forests during the dry season.

Reporting by Sukarli
Editing by Albert Saragih

Editor: Bustanuddin


Five concession areas in W. Kalimantan sealed following forest fires
The Jakarta Post 27 Aug 18;

The Environment and Forestry Ministry sealed land owned by five holders of plantation concessions in Kubu Raya, West Kalimantan over the weekend after authorities discovered fires in the areas.

The five companies were identified only by their initials: PT SUM, PT PLD, PT AAN, PT APL and PT RJP.

"The move is aimed at creating a deterrent effect,” Rasio Ridho Sani, the ministry's law enforcement director general who led the operation in Kubu Raya, said in a press statement on Sunday. "The government is serious in handling [forest fire] cases.”

"We will continue to monitor other locations, including by using satellite and drones," he added.

Rasio said that his office was considering levying both administrative punishments and civil and criminal charges on anyone responsible for causing forest fires in the province.

The police have named 26 individuals as suspects for allegedly burning forest across West Kalimantan. As of Friday, investigators had arrested 14 of the suspects.

Data by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) showed that the number of hot spots in West Kalimantan had decreased from 885 on Thursday to 38 on Sunday morning.

A team comprising more than 2,300 personnel from the Military, police, government ministries and local administrations have been working to extinguish fires across the province, BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said. (sau/ipa)

Haze disrupts Garuda's Pontianak flights
Severianus Endi The Jakarta Post 27 Aug 18l

National flag carrier Garuda Indonesia has said that haze from forest fires had disrupted its operations for several days at Supadio International Airport in Pontianak, West Kalimantan.

Garuda Pontianak general manager Susanna Saragih said at least one flight on Monday to Jakarta and another flight to Ketapang, also in West Kalimantan, had been delayed due to poor visibility at Supadio airport.

Supadio airport recorded a decreased visibility of 450 meters on Moday, much lower than the 700 m minimum visibility standard for safe landings and takeoffs.

"No one can predict when the visibility will return to normal again. It depends on the wind and rain,” Susana said on Monday.

Garuda passenger Slamet Riyadi said he was already on board his scheduled Pontianak-Ketapang flight on Monday for takeoff at 6 a.m. local time. Thirty minutes later, however, the cabin crew announced that the flight was delayed and requested all passengers to disembark and wait in the airport lounge until further notice.

The aircraft was finally cleared for takeoff at around 8:50 a.m.

Susana added that Garuda's Pontianak service had also suffered a series of delays the previous Monday on Aug. 20, when the region had very low visibility of 200 m.

The visibility returned to normal the following day.

Haze also disrupted flights to Pontianak on Friday evening. The morning flights on Saturday were also canceled.

Authorities have been struggling to combat forest fires as the province enters the peak of the dry season. (sau/ipa)

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Indonesia: Illegal mine found in orangutan habitat in W. Kalimantan

The Jakarta Post 27 Aug 18;

A joint team of Environment and Forestry Ministry investigators and West Kalimantan Police personnel has uncovered an unlicensed bauxite mine inside a protected habitat for orangutans in Ketapang regency, West Kalimantan.

Investigators believe the mining activities in the Sungai Tulak area were carried by bauxite miner PT Laman Mining without a forest area utilization permit, according to the ministry’s forest protection director Sustyo Iriyono.

Sungai Tulak is located in the buffer zone of Mount Palung National Park, an orangutan habitat in West Kalimantan.

The investigation started when the ministry received information about the alleged illegal mining from locals.

On Aug. 20, the ministry, in collaboration with the police, raided the mining site and found three excavators operating and four others in a nearby location.

Investigators have named the company a suspect in the case and charged it with illegal mining under the 2013 Law on deforestation, which carries a maximum fine of Rp 50 billion (US$3.43 million).

The team is currently closely investigating the possible roles of the company’s board of directors and commissioners, who are suspected of being among the masterminds of the illegal mining activities.

"These activities not only harm the country, but also damage the ecosystem and animal habitat and pose serious threats to the livelihood of the [local] people,” the ministry’s Law Enforcement Director General Rasio Ridho Sani said in a press release on Sunday, adding that the ministry was also considering whether to press money-laundering charges. (ris/ipa)

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