Inp.polri.go.id - Medan. North Sumatra Regional Police Chief Commissioner General Agung Setya Imam Effendi announced that the police will conduct a reconstruction of the arson case of journalist Rico Sampurna Pasaribu’s house in Karo, North Sumatra, on Friday (18/7/2024).

He explained that the reconstruction follows the psychiatric and mental condition evaluations of the suspects, which the police have recently received.

“The results indicate a match between the psychiatric evaluations and the investigation reports as well as the handling of the case so far,” Chief Agung said, as quoted by antaranews.com.

The reconstruction aims to align witness testimonies and the suspects' confessions with evidence found at the crime scene and other locations. The police will use this process to build new hypotheses regarding the presence of any intentional elements in the arson.

“We hope to gain a clear picture from the pieces of the puzzle provided by witness statements, the suspects, and the processed evidence,” he added.

North Sumatra Police had named three suspects in the arson that resulted in the death of Tribrata TV journalist Rico Sempurna Pasaribu. The suspects are identified as RAS, YT, and B.

Police spokesperson Senior Superintendent Hadi Wahyudi revealed that suspect B ordered the other two suspects to set fire to the victim's house, giving YT the directive and providing RAS with Rp 130,000 to purchase gasoline and diesel used in the arson.

The fire, which occurred in the early hours of 27 June 2024, claimed the lives of Rico Sempurna Pasaribu, his wife Efprida Boru Ginting, his child Sudi Inveseti Pasaribu, and his grandchild Lowi Situngkir.

(mg/inp/pr/nm)