Police arrest Koba Tin official: Report

Police have arrested a PT Koba Tin official and a former employee over an alleged illegal mining case in Bangka-Belitung Island, local police said on Saturday.

Central Bangka police arrested the company's manager who was responsible for receiving tin ore and a former employee late on Friday, Djuhandani Rahardjo, chief of Central Bangka police, told Reuters.

"Police found evidence of their involvement in illegal mining by the firm. They facilitated illegal miners to sell tin sands to the firm (PT Koba Tin)," Rahardjo said. "They knew tin ore sold to Koba Tin came from a mining area that does not belong to the firm."

The investigation has stopped smelting and export activities at Koba Tin, the second-biggest tin miner and producer in Indonesia.

Indonesian police said on Friday they would team up with Malaysian police and Interpol to arrest PT Koba Tin Managing Director Kamarddin M.D., a Malaysian national, who might have left the country, after failing to respond to two summons.

Koba Tin is 75-percent owned by Malaysian Smelting Corp. Bhd. while state-owned PT Timah owns the rest. (*)