November 5, 2025
JAKARTA – The police are investigating the identities of charred human remains found inside a building in Kwitang, Central Jakarta that was damaged in a fire during the late-August demonstrations, amid questions over whether the remains of two bodies may belong to two protesters still reported missing.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Central Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Susatyo Purnomo Condro said that the body was first discovered on Thursday by technicians hired by the building’s owner, auto financing company Astra Credit Companies (ACC).
The building is located across from the Jakarta Police’s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters, where hundreds of people gathered on Aug. 29 to protest the death of online motorcycle transportation (ojol) driver Affan Kurniawan who was run over by a Brimob armored vehicle the previous night.
The demonstration that day turned violent, with several buildings, including the ACC property, set ablaze by protesters.
“We received a report on Thursday from the building’s technical team, which was there to inspect the structure as part of a plan to renovate the building after the fire,” Susatyo said, as quoted by Antara.
“When our officers went to the scene, they found two charred human skeletons that could no longer be identified,” he added. “From the crime scene examination, the bodies were found buried beneath the collapsed, fire-damaged ceiling.”
Police transported the bodies to the National Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta for examination, including investigating the possibility that the remains belonged to Muhammad Farhan Hamid and Reno Syachputra Dewo – two men in their early 20s who were reported missing after the Aug. 29 protest in Kwitang.
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Central Jakarta Police criminal investigation department head Adj. Sr. Comr. Roby Saputra said that the families of both Farhan and Reno had their DNA samples taken.
“Family members of both individuals have provided DNA samples at the National Police Forensics Laboratory. We are still waiting for the results,” Roby said on Saturday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
Last month, rights group the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) sent a letter to National Police chief Gen. Listyo Sigit Prabowo urging the police to step up efforts to locate Farhan and Reno.
Farhan was last seen fleeing the protest site after tear gas was fired, according to his family, who said he had attended the rally with two friends but was separated from them in the chaos.
Reno, meanwhile, had also reportedly left home to join the protest but never returned, and his phone has been unreachable since.
Kontras said it received 47 missing person reports during the week-long protests in Jakarta from late August to early September, 33 of whom were later found to be in police custody.