Robert Go, Jakarta – The police force is under fire again, this time for allegedly mishandling a dispute between one of Indonesia's richest men and the country's most respected weekly news magazine.

The scandal is erupting at a bad time for the police. Allegations that officers may be on the payrolls of rich men and will do their bidding at the expense of their duties as law enforcers could roll back the gains the force has made since the breakthroughs in the Bali bomb blast case.

Hints that members of the force remain corrupt, despite ongoing programmes to raise professionalism within it, could also hamper efforts to secure more aid money – funds for further reform projects – from foreign donors.

It all began with a story in Tempo's March 3 edition insinuating that tycoon Tommy Winata, whose empire is said to include banks, casinos, real-estate and other projects, could have had a hand in last month's fire at Tanah Abang textile market. The report claimed that Mr Winata already submitted a redevelopment plan for the market area with the city government, even before the fire which gutted 5,700 kiosks and drove shop-owners out of business.

The headline for the story read "Was Tommy behind Tanah Abang?" and reporters also suggested that Mr Winata would charge tenants much more than they are currently paying.

But Mr Winata vehemently denied to Tempo that he had made such a proposal, while Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso made it clear that the fire was accidental.

Last Saturday, thugs claiming to represent Mr Winata raided Tempo's offices and demanded the magazine print a retraction of that story and apologise to their boss. After a standoff lasting several hours, the henchmen and several Tempo editors went to a nearby police station to try to resolve the dispute.

Now, a victim's account by Tempo writer Ahmad Taufik claims that he and the paper's editor were beaten and verbally abused by Mr Winata's representatives while they were all in the presence of senior police officers.

Mr Ahmad also recounted how "Mr Winata's right-hand man" boasted that he has a good relationship with Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso, and top police officers. Through all this, police officers reportedly did nothing to stop the intimidation process and even advocated Tempo editors capitulate to the thugs' demands.

Governor Sutiyoso, distancing himself from the scandal, said: "My relationship with Tommy Winata is the same as my relationship with any other major businessman." Police Chief General Da'i Bachtiar, who has been campaigning lately to project how the force is improving itself, said that investigators are looking into the issue.

But Indonesian journalists, who are often victims of "premanism" or intimidation by thugs sent out by parties who are displeased by media coverage, are saying enough is enough.

A few years ago, for instance, supporters of former President Abdurrahman Wahid similarly visited a newspaper office in East Java to protest the coverage given their leader.

Legislators and other public figures are anxious the Tempo-Tommy Winata case is investigated.

Cleric Hasyim Muzadi, head of the country's largest Muslim organisation Nahdlatul Ulama, said: "The police better investigate this thoroughly. If not, we can assume that cops are under the influence of rich thugs." Lawmaker JE Sahetapy, a well-known anti-corruption crusader, said: "The police have to do more than just promise investigations."