Bayu Marhaenjati – A two-week operation by police and public-order officials at the National Monument has "trained and advised" 28 couples for reasons unknown, although Monas's head of day-to-day operations responded to the dragnet by asking that the grounds of the building be used for wholesome recreational activities and not "amorous conduct."

"We aim to anticipate crime," Gambir Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Jajang Hasan Basri said on Tuesday. "Couples have always been targeted [by opportunist thieves], and have become the objects of extortion by certain perpetrators."

The police operation took place over the last fortnight. The first week netted 10 couples, while 18 pairs were recovered in the second half of the operation. Police said they would retain the identities of the people they had spoken with, but had decided not to file any charges.

It has not been confirmed by police exactly what the newly trained and advised people were supposed to have done, and the manager of the National Monument was not able to shed any further light on the case. "We don't know that [Monas] is being used as a place for amorous conduct," Mimi Rahmiyati said.