11 Serpong villagers arrested for looting<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Tangerang police detectives have busted 11
\nSarimulya villagers in Serpong for allegedly being involved in
\nthe recent looting of thousands of livestock and the burning of
\nthe animals' byres.<\/p>\n
\"All of the suspects are still under intensive investigation
\nas we track down the real mastermind (of this incident),\"
\nTangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto Iskandar said on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The officer refused to identify the 11, who were believed to
\nbe among the 600 people who set fire to the pens and stole the
\nanimals belonging to a local farmer named Icon, 46, on Wednesday
\nevening.<\/p>\n
According to the owner, he lost 37 cows, 18 buffaloes, 5,003
\nducks and 100 pigs, causing estimated total losses of Rp 500
\nmillion (US$55,250).<\/p>\n
The mobs dispersed only after a troop of Mobile Brigade and
\nriot police officers were dispatched to the area.<\/p>\n
Pudji said he had assigned a special team to trace the
\n\"intellectual actor\" behind the looting as police had learned
\nthat most of the looters were merely followers.<\/p>\n
\"We have indeed identified the intellectual actor of this
\nlooting,\" he said, but gave no further explanation.<\/p>\n
Antara reported that the incident was sparked by last week's
\narrest of two Sarimulya villagers, Uting, 30. and Sido, 36, by
\npolice officers based on a report by Icon, who accused the two of
\nstealing fish from his pond.<\/p>\n
After being questioned, the two were detained for two days but
\nthen released due to the lack of evidence.<\/p>\n
After learning about the arrest and the lack of evidence, some
\nof the local villagers got angry and prepared to teach Icon a
\nlesson.<\/p>\n
The villagers said that they first intended to discuss the
\ncase with Icon but he rejected the idea.<\/p>\n
\"It might have been Icon's refusal that sparked the incident,\"
\ncommented villager Mulyadi, 25.<\/p>\n
Looting of farms and ponds has become more frequent in
\nTangerang during this time of hardship.<\/p>\n
On July 13, for example, about 1.5 tons of shrimps were stolen
\nfrom ponds in the area by about 2,000 people. It caused an
\nestimated Rp 180 million in losses.<\/p>\n
In the week after the incident, police questioned 80 villagers
\nbefore finally naming four people as suspects: two as
\nprovocateurs and the other two as looters.<\/p>\n
On July 25, the police shot dead an alleged shrimp looter for
\nresisting arrest and arrested two others at a shrimp pond.<\/p>\n
The two other suspects, identified as Surya, 46, and Tagwid,
\n40, were captured when trying to escape with about 25 kilograms
\nof shrimps.<\/p>\n
The officers also confiscated the boat, a fishing net, a
\nsickle and shrimps wrapped in plastic bags. (bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/11-serpong-villagers-arrested-for-looting-1447893297",
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