Awaiting the Results of the Investigation into the Khamozaro House Fire, Chief Judge Topan Ginting of the Corruption Case

The investigation by the Medan City Police into the case of the house fire of Medan District Court judge Khamozaro Waruwu has been ongoing for 10 days. However, the police have not yet been able to conclude the cause of the fire at the judge's house, who presided over the corruption case of the former Head of the Public Works and Spatial Planning Department of North Sumatra Province, Topan Ginting.

North Sumatra Governor Bobby Nasution has also commented on the house fire case. Bobby's name is linked to the corruption case because it involves his close associate, Topan Ginting.

"If it was indeed set on fire, hopefully the perpetrator will be caught soon," said Bobby when asked by reporters regarding the case, at the North Sumatra Governor's Office, Medan, Wednesday (12/11/2025).

Bobby declined to comment further on the fire. The case is currently under police investigation.

The house of Judge Khamozaro caught fire on Tuesday (4/11/2025). The fire department received the report at 10:41 AM WIB and successfully extinguished the fire at 11:18 AM WIB. The fire occurred in the main bedroom, which is regularly occupied by Khamozaro. The other parts of the house remained intact.

The Head of Medan Police Commissioner Calvijn Simanjuntak stated that the investigation into the fire case has uncovered new facts that are quite important for revealing the cause of the fire.

Investigators have collected several recordings from surveillance cameras (CCTV) located in and outside the residential complex. Khamozaro's house itself is not equipped with CCTV. From the CCTV footage, the police traced the events before, during, and after the fire.

"We have also examined 43 witnesses, including victims, security personnel of the housing complex, neighborhood heads, local residents, cleaning staff, and firefighters," said Calvijn.

Calvijn stated that the testimonies from witnesses and CCTV footage will be combined with findings from the National Police Forensic Laboratory team and the Inafis (Indonesian Fingerprint Identification System) team of the Medan Police.

Calvijn stated that they will soon present the conclusions from their investigation. Currently, the police have not been able to determine the cause of the fire at Khamozaro's house, whether it was intentionally set or if it was an accident.

Previously, Khamozaro stated that the fire occurred while his house was unoccupied. His wife had left the house only about 20 minutes prior. Several valuable belongings of Khamozaro were also burned. The official uniform that Khamozaro usually wore while serving at the Medan District Court was also destroyed in the fire.

"There were several items that were burned, such as employee documents, our wife's jewelry that we had collected for decades, and our children's documents," he said.

Khamozaro stated that there are no CCTV cameras in his home. He hopes that the police can quickly determine the cause of the fire in his house. "I hope there will be peace for me and my family," he said.

Khamozaro is the head of the panel of judges presiding over the corruption case related to the road construction project in North Padang Lawas Regency, specifically the construction of the Sipiongot-Labuhanbatu Road valued at Rp 96 billion, the Hutaimbaru-Sipiongot Road at Rp 61.8 billion, and several national road segments.

The case revealed by the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) involves the former Head of the Public Works and Spatial Planning Office of North Sumatra, Topan Ginting, Rasuli Efendi Siregar as the former Head of the Gunung Tua UPTD of the Public Works and Spatial Planning Office of North Sumatra, and Heliyanto from the National Road Implementation Work Unit (PJN) Region I North Sumatra.

Two contractors involved in the bribery have also been implicated, namely M Akhirun Efendi Piliang, the President Director of PT Dalihan Natolu Group, and his son, M Rayhan Dulasmi Piliang, the Director of PT Rona Namora. Khamozaro presided over the trial for the two defendants who provided the bribes.

Khamozaro once mentioned that Bobby Nasution, the Governor of North Sumatra, should be presented to testify in the trial. During the proceedings, Khamozaro also intensively explored the roles of the former Head of the South Tapanuli Police, Adjunct Commissioner Yasir Ahmadi, the former Secretary of the North Sumatra Development Planning, Research, and Development Agency, Dikky Anugerah Panjaitan, as well as the former Acting Secretary of the North Sumatra Provincial Government, Effendy Pohan.

Khamozaro even requested the prosecutors of the KPK to issue a letter of investigation order or a determination of suspects against the three witnesses. According to him, their roles are very important in the corruption case.

Khamozaro also explored the testimonies of several key witnesses, particularly Topan and Effendy, regarding the budget reallocation policy for two projects that were not previously listed in the 2025 North Sumatra Regional Budget.

Khamozaro stated that during the trial, irregularities were found regarding the budget shifts made by the North Sumatra Regional Government Budget Team on March 12, 2025.

Just one day later, Bobby signed the North Sumatra Governor Regulation Number 16 of 2025 concerning the Third Amendment to the North Sumatra APBD 2025. The budget shift was carried out through the governor regulation without the approval of the North Sumatra Regional House of Representatives.

A day after his house was burned down, Khamozaro continued to preside over the hearing with the agenda of reading the charges against two contractors. Akhirun and Rayhan were each charged with 3 years and 2.5 years in prison for bribing state officials to obtain a project.

Meanwhile, three state organizers suspected of receiving bribes, namely Topan, Rasuli, and Heliyanto, will soon undergo trial. The KPK has submitted their case files to the Medan District Court.

The spokesperson for the Medan District Court, Soniady Drajat, stated that the panel of judges who will preside over the trial of the three defendants has been appointed. They are Mardison, who is the Chair of the Medan District Court, As’ad Rahim Lubis, and Rurita Ningrum. Khamozaro will not preside over the trial of these three defendants.