Indonesian, Sri Lankan police chiefs discuss human smuggling

Indonesian Police Chief General Tito Karnavian met with his Sri Lankan counterpart, Inspector General of Police Pujith Jayasundara, to discuss the issue of human smuggling.

“The discussion especially focused on possible threats from ex-LTTE members who may have entered Indonesia as refugees or asylum seekers,” General Tito said in a written statement received here on Monday.

General Tito Karnavian visited Sri Lankas Police Headquarters in a first working visit to pursue bilateral cooperation after he was inaugurated as the countrys new national police recently.

He was flanked by the head of the international relations division, the head of the public relations division, the head of Densus 88 anti-terrorist unit and the director of general crimes of the crime investigation department.

He also attended the 150th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Police’s conference for high ranking police officials.

Tito said the Sri Lanka police hailed the visit, adding that it will help deepen bilateral relations.

He added that the Sri Lanka police wished to learn from Polri (Indonesias national police) regarding handling of terrorists by Densus 88 and in the matter of dealing with other public security and order issues.

“An intensive communication is needed for information exchange, especially assistance from the SLP (Sri Lanka police) to identify suspects,” he stressed.

Tito said Indonesia is located strategically as a transit country for human smuggling.

At the meeting, the two police chiefs agreed to increase cooperation, especially in the field of counter-terrorism, human smuggling and other transnational crimes.

They also agreed to cooperate in enhancing the skills of the police personnel in both the countries through a training program or courses at JCLEC (Jakarta Center for Law Enforcement Cooperation) investigation training center in the National Police Academy in Semarang, Central Java.

General Tito has invited the chief of the Sri Lanka police to attend the general assembly of the Interpol in Bali on November 7-10, 2016, AN reports.

-Agencies