Indonesia arrests sacked head of free meal scheme

Indonesian officials arrested on Wednesday the former head of the country’s free school meals programme, blighted by mass food poisonings and corruption claims, a day after he was fired.

Prabowo fired Dadan Hindayana, an entomologist who had led the National Nutrition Agency since its inception in August 2024, along with two deputies on Tuesday. All three were taken into custody in Jakarta on Wednesday.

They stand accused of “crimes in the management” of the programme, Syarief Sulaeman Nahdi of the attorney general’s office told reporters.

Authorities earlier raided the nutrition agency’s office as well as the homes of the three defendants, Syarief said.

The government says the programme has provided meals to more than 61 million people by March, but tens of thousands of people have fallen ill since it was rolled out in January last year.