Convicted murderer John Kei arrested for alleged attacks, murder after months released on parole

Police have arrested infamous thug John Kei for allegedly masterminding attacks in two places that claimed a life and injured two others, months after he was released on parole for murder.

John Kei, or John Refra, was arrested on Sunday along with 24 of his men in his house on Jl. Tytyan Indah Utama X at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday, Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus said as quoted by tempo.co.

The men were accused of being involved in two separate attacks in Tangerang, Banten and West Jakarta.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Nana Sudjana said John allegedly ordered his men to murder Nus Kei and a member of his gang, identified only as ER, over discrepancies from land sales.

The order was revealed when investigators checked the mobile phone of one of his men. John also allegedly sent a threatening message prior to the attack.

“Upon checking the cell phone of the perpetrator, we found an order from John Kei to his men. There is indication of a plan to murder Nus Kei and ER,” Nana said in a press conference on Monday as reported by kompas.com.

ER died after being stabbed by a sharp weapon in an attack in Kosambi, Cengkareng district in West Jakarta on Sunday.

“John Kei’s group, consisting of five to seven people, allegedly attacked Nus Kei’s group in Kosambi, West Jakarta. One person, identified as ER, died from stab wounds to several parts of the body,” Nana said.

On the same day, the group also allegedly attacked an area in Green Lake City in Tangerang, where two people were reportedly injured. Some members of the group were allegedly involved in a shooting incident at the Australian cluster at the residential complex.

Kompas.com reported that during the raid at John’s house, police confiscated 28 spears, 24 sharp weapons, two arrows, two baseball bats and 17 mobile phones.

John was released in December 2019 on parole after completing two-thirds of his 12-year sentence after being found guilty by the Central Jakarta District Court in 2012 for the murder of former PT Sanex Steel director Tan Harry Tantono, also known as Ayung. The victim was found dead in a room at the Swiss-Belhotel in Sawah Besar district, Central Jakarta on Jan. 26, 2012.

John Kei was said to have violated Article 340 in conjunction with Article 55 of the Criminal Code. He once filed an appeal but the Supreme Court increased his sentence to 16 years.

After being granted remission, he was expected to be released in 2025, but has reportedly been qualified for parole since December last year.

Responding to the incident, Rika Aprianti, a spokesperson for the Law and Human Rights Ministry's Corrections Directorate General confirmed that John Kei had been released on parole since December, during which he was supervised under the guidance of the ministry’s correctional facility department.

The ministry will coordinate with the police regarding the case. She said a hearing would be conducted afterward.

“From the hearing, [we] will decide what kind of measure [we] will apply to John Kei,” Rika said in a statement on Monday.