Police hunt Koba Tin boss

PT Koba Tin president director Kamarrdin M. Top may have fled to Malaysia to escape a police probe, police said Wednesday.

?He may have escaped to his country of origin, Malaysia. We have written to NCB Interpol and the National Police to forcibly pick him up,? Bangka Belitung Police chief Brig. Gen. Imam Sudjarwo said as quoted by Antara news agency in the provincial capital Pangkalpinang.

He said the police had summoned Kamarrdin three times to attend questioning as a witness, but he had failed to show.

Koba Tin, a joint venture firm with 75 percent of its shares owned by Malaysia Smelting Corporation, is accused of collecting illegal seeds of tin from unauthorized mining partners.

Imam said the police had named one of the company?s directors, Suryadi, a suspect along with directors of two business partners CV Kurnia and CV Edo Empat Bersaudara.

The police have detained former Koba Tin directors Datu Najib, Jaafar and Mathias Hariyadi on the same charges. They also sealed off the company, leaving its workers laid-off. (*)