Krishna Murti, the unofficial face of the Jakarta Metro Police, will sadly no longer be the city police’s director of General Crimes Investigation Unit as he has, as of today, officially been named the new deputy police chief in Lampung.
Krishna Murti became somewhat of a minor celebrity in Jakarta due to his increased exposure in the media after the January 14 terrorist attack in Jakarta, during which he was photographed, along with many of the city’s brave officers, heroically defending the city from terrorists.
Since then, Krishna Murti has not shied from publicly commenting on some of the city’s biggest criminal cases, even though many say that he did so in a manner that was way out of bounds, both professionally and ethically.
Case in point: he posted on Facebook to say that Jessica Wongso, the sole suspect in the infamous cyanide coffee poisoning case, lied when she pleaded her innocence to the media. This was at a time when the police did not have enough evidence to convict Jessica and there were worries that Jessica had already effectively been branded as guilty by the media.
Then, in April, Krishna Murti used social media to publicly shame and make crude remarks about a transgender woman who was caught pretending to be a cop in Ternate. Soon after, he posted a photo of himself on Instagram posing with a peace sign-gone-terribly-wrong with a man accused of the murder and mutilation of a pregnant woman.
Last but not least, Krishna Murti could have created an international controversy when he said that the police in the US are stupider than the ones in Indonesia because Indonesian police officers can catch crooks using fewer tools and less technology.
So, we are indeed saddened by Krishna Murti’s departure (in the sense we won’t be able to report as much on the ridiculous things he does). Fare thee well, sir, and we hope Lampung welcomes you with open arms.
