Rizky Amelia & Rangga Prakoso – Activists have criticized a National Police move to withdraw its investigators from the Corruption Eradication Commission, claiming the action is an attempt to exact revenge against the antigraft agency's probe into a procurement scandal involving several police generals.

The announcement of the officers' removal from the antigraft agency known as the KPK will hurt the body's ability to investigate major corruption cases, antigraft campaigners said.

"The recalls have tarnished the police's image, as the public will see them as revenge against the KPK," Donald Fariz, a legal investigator from Indonesia Corruption Watch, said on Sunday.

National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Boy Rafli Amar said that 20 officers had been recalled from the antigraft agency because their assignments had expired, and that the matter was just a routine rotation of officers. He denied there was any other reason for the staffing change.

But Neta S. Pane, Indonesia Police Watch executive director, said the recall showed that the police were worried that the expansion of the KPK's investigation into the procurement case, which involved driving simulators, would net more generals beyond the two already named by the antigraft agency. "The recall will worsen conflict between the two institutions," he said.

The driving simulator project reportedly cost Rp 196.8 billion ($21 million), including a mark up of about Rp 100 billion. Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, chairman of the traffic division when the project started, has been named a suspect by the KPK for allegedly taking a Rp 2 billion kickback to award the contract. To date, however, he has refused to comply with summons for questioning by the antigraft body.

The KPK has named four suspects in the case, including the inspector general and his former deputy, a one-star general. Police have named five suspects, but the general is not included.

Bambang Widodo Umar, a police affairs analyst, said on Saturday that if the withdrawn officers were replaced by competent officers, the controversy would likely pass. But if they were replaced by officers of lesser quality, the public would assume the move was merely to protect Djoko, a two-star general.

On Friday, KPK spokesman Johan Budi said it was disturbing that 20 detectives were recalled at a time when the KPK was handling so many cases.