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November 19, 2000 

JAKARTA--(AP) - Police want to question members of ex-dictator Suharto's family after Indonesia's president Saturday ordered them to press on with their hunt for the fugitive youngest son of the former leader.

Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, a multimillionaire businessmen, has been on the run for more than two weeks evading an 18-month prison sentence for corruption.

A police search has so far failed to find any trace of him despite orders from President Abdurrahman Wahid that he be put behind bars.

National Police Chief Gen. Bimantoro Surojo said detectives would start interrogating Tommy's two brothers and three sisters along with other relatives from Monday.

So far members of the superrich Suharto clan claim they don't know where he is. Some of their homes have been searched by officers who have denied bungling the case or going soft on the ex-leader's family.

His lawyers maintain that Tommy, 38, has not skipped the country and is in hiding because he fears his life would be in danger if he went to prison without special protection.

"The president asked me to continue the manhunt for Tommy," Bimantoro said after a brief meeting with President Abdurrahman Wahid.

Tommy's disappearance is proving to be a major embarrassment for Wahid's crisis-ridden 13-month-old administration. It came to power on promises of eliminating corruption and establishing the rule of law only to be bogged down in scandal and mismanagement.

Earlier this week government officials said Wahid was angry that Tommy had eluded police.

Wahid said on Thursday he would evaluate the performance of Bimantoro and Attorney General Marzuki Darusman over the case. But officials later said there were no plans to fire the two over the affair.

On the same day Tommy's wife, Ardhia Pramesti Regita Cahyani, ignored a summons by police for questioning. Senior police officers said they hoped to interview her on Monday.

Tommy was sentenced by the Supreme Court in September over a 1997 real estate scam that cost the government dlrs 600 million.

Tommy used legal maneuvering to stay out of jail for several weeks, but a warrant for his arrest was issued after Wahid formally turned down a plea for clemency.

Former President Suharto ruled Indonesia for 32 years. During that time his family and friends built huge business empires under patronage.

He was forced to quit power in 1998 and since then has fended off corruption allegations.

In September, graft trial against him was abandoned after doctors claimed he was too sick to face prosecution.

However, an appeals court last week ordered the resumption of the trial.

Bimantoro also said Suharto's youngest daughter Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih, 35, would be questioned separately on Monday for illegal firearms possession. He did not elaborate.