Tim Dodd, Jakarta – Two senior Indonesian police officers who uncovered evidence of army involvement in the killing of three teachers near the Freeport mine in Papua last August have been transferred to new posts.

The pair, the deputy police commander in Papua, Brigadier-General Raziman Tarigan, and the local commander in Timika (near the Freeport mine), Assistant Senior Commissioner Sumarjiyo, are no longer involved in the investigation which was handed over to a joint military police team last week.

Indonesia's military is now trying to divert attention away from the witness-supported allegations that the Indonesian army ambushed a convoy of teachers who were on a sightseeing trip in mountainous country near the Freeport mine on August 31. Three of the teachers – including two Americans – who taught in a school for children of Freeport employees were killed.

Yesterday, the armed forces spokesman, Brigadier General Ratyono, warned the Indonesian public not to be misled by opinion and speculation about the alleged army involvement in the Freeport shootings. "We will let the legal process continue and it will bring us to the definitive result," he said.

Last month Brigadier Raziman was quoted as saying that there was evidence that soldiers from Kostrad (the army's strategic reserve force) were involved in the shooting. The previous month he said that a native Papuan witness, Deky Murib, had reported the involvement of members of Kopassus, the Indonesian army's special forces. Yesterday, Brigadier Raziman said that he stood by his earlier statements.