Jakarta – Two months after former President Suharto's youngest son was ordered arrested, the ease with which he has evaded capture is causing increasing embarrassment to the country's beleaguered President.

Police yesterday said they had no idea of the whereabouts of Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala Putra, who has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for a 1997 real estate scam that cost the government US$6 million.

After a bizarre series of events that preceded the arrest warrant – including two secret meetings with head-of-state Mr Abdurrahman Wahid – Tommy suddenly vanished and has not been seen since.

On November 2, Mr Abdurrahman denied a plea by Tommy for a Presidential pardon. A day later police issued a warrant for his arrest.

"Both Mr Abdurrahman and the police are looking stupid," said political analyst Benny Subianto. "The President is still desperately trying to convince people that Tommy will be caught."

Last week, Mr Abdurrahman said police officers had caught up with Tommy at an undisclosed location in eastern Java, Indonesia's dominant island. But Tommy managed to get away while commanders proceeded to check with the Presidential palace whether to detain him, he said.

Mr Abdurrahman insisted that the authorities still knew Tommy's whereabouts. "We know where he is and when the timing is right, he will be detained," he said.

But police denied they had captured the millionaire playboy, who has a passion for fast cars. "Don't say that the national police spokesman is saying that the President is wrong. But no single policeman has ever arrested Tommy," police Brig-Gen Saleh Saaf said.

Mr Abdurrahman has come under fire for his failure to put Tommy behind bars. The case has exposed flaws in Indonesian law enforcement and added to worries that the President is unable to clean up graft in the country.