Karnavian hopes new BNPT chief will strengthen regional ties

National Police Chief General Tito Karnavian has expressed hope that new Chief of the National Counter-Terrorism Agency (BNPT) Suhardi Alius will strengthen regional relations with his counterparts in neighboring countries.

"We hope he will strengthen regional relations. There are terror networks in Malaysia and in the Philippines, there is Abu Sayyaf. Thailand was attacked. I believe he is capable of promoting regional cooperation," Karnavian stated after attending a ceremony to install new BNPT chief at the presidential palace, here, Wednesday.

Globally, terror outfits have shifted from supporting Al Qaeda to backing the ISIS network.

Alius will often undertake overseas visits to promote counter-terrorism cooperation with his foreign counterparts, he noted.

"I have trust in his capability. He has frequently engaged with his foreign counterparts while heading the Polices Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim) and when he studied abroad. This will help him in dealing with terrorism as the BNPT chief," he remarked.

Karnavian made assurance that Alius was capable of carrying out his duties despite not having joined the Polices counter-terrorism squad Special Detachment (Densus) 88 or BNPT. 

Alius is a brilliant general and was always among the top three officers while studying at the Police Academy, the Police Higher Education, and the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas)s leadership school.

"He was in Lemhannas in 2011 with me. Among the 80 participants, he ranked second. He discussed terrorism," he recalled.

When Alius was head of Bareskrim, he had access to Densus, he added.

As coordinator of the Police Chiefs expert staff members, Alius had often facilitated counter-terrorism activities, he pointed out. 

President Joko Widodo installed Commissioner General Suhardi Alius as the BNPT chief at the palace on Wednesday to succeed Karnavian, who was promoted to the post of National Police chief.

Alius was earlier the chief secretary of Lemhannas. 

Born in Jakarta on May 10, 1962, Alius is an intellectual policeman, whose career has been on the upswing ever since he graduated from the Police Academy in 1985.

Alius had earlier held several posts related to criminal investigations, including as the Jakarta Polices director of general criminal investigations, as director-in-charge of certain crimes at the Police Headquarters Bareskrim, and later as the head of Baresktrim.

Alius also served as deputy chief of the Jakarta Police and later as the head of the Police Headquarters Public Relations Division. 

The Seroja Award was bestowed on Alius for being the best graduate at Lemhannas. 

Alius holds a masters degree in law from the Yogyakarta-based University of Gadjah Mada and speaks English and German fluently. He has also attended police courses abroad in Germany, Las Vegas in the United States, Lyon in France, Bangkok in Thailand, Perth and Sydney in Australia, Vancouver in Canada, and Cambodia, among others.

Commissioner General Alius has also authored two books --- "The Future of Indonesian Forests" and "Turn the Police Services from Leadership to Subordination" --- in which he revealed about venturing sometimes into the field in disguise as an ordinary civilian to check and monitor the performance of his staff while they were on duty.(*)

Source: ANTARA