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Our Bureau

CHENNAI, Dec. 18

THE Indian embassy in Indonesia has asked for the release of Mr Arun Jain and Mr Rajiv Malhotra and has extended its guarantee that they would be available for further interrogation if necessary.

It may be recalled that the Indonesian police, based on a complaint from Bank Artha Graha, has detained the two. The bank is a client of Polaris, of which Mr Arun Jain is Chairman and Mr Malhotra is Vice-President. The Bank's grouse is that Polaris has not met commercial commitments that it agreed to in its contract with the bank, signed in June and August 2002.

In a telephonic interview, Mr Amar Sinha, Charge d'Affaire at the Indian embassy in that country said, "We have asked for the release of Mr Jain and Mr Malhotra and assured the Indonesian authorities of their availability for, say a couple of days more. They would also present themselves for interrogation at a later date if required."

Adding that there was no reason why they should continue to be confined, he said, "We have conveyed our concern to the high level foreign office here." According to Mr Sinha, legal representatives of Polaris have moved a petition for the duo's release.

Asked if the authorities had responded with a time frame for the release, he replied, "They have not told us yet, so there is no definite timeline to this."

Commenting on the issue of demand for money , Mr Sinha said, "I understand that Mr Jain offered to pay $662,000, (which was the amount that the bank had paid Polaris for services and product licences), but that was not accepted."

Media reports have it that Mr Tomy Winata, the Vice-Chairman and promoter of Bank Artha Graha, might be a difficult person to deal with and that he has political connections that may prevent the early release of the prisoners.

Asked to comment on this, Mr Sinha said, "We know him as a local gentleman. And obviously, there is some rule of law here... "

In a statement, Polaris Software Labs said that the legal counsel for Polaris from India had arrived in Jakarta and "is working on the ground with the international law firm Lucas Partners" in trying to secure the release of Mr Jain and Mr Malhotra.

Our Delhi Bureau adds:

The External Affairs Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, spoke to his Indonesian counterpart, Mr Hassan Wirayuda, on Wednesday on the issue of releasing Mr Jain and his colleague. A Foreign Office spokesman said Mr Sinha has conveyed to Mr Wirayuda "very strongly that the two gentlemen should be released immediately."

The Indonesian Ambassador to India was once again summoned to the Foreign Office on Wednesday to express India's "urgent concern" over the issue and to resolve the case as soon as possible.

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