Bondowoso Police shoot dead five attackers<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Five people were shot dead by police who were
\nattempting to fend off a mob attacking a police station in the
\nEast Java town of Bondowoso, National Police chief Gen. Surojo
\nBimantoro said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"I have a report from the East Java Police chief that
\nyesterday (Wednesday) at 5 p.m., an attack on the Bondowoso
\ndistrict police station took place by some 600 people carrying
\nfuel bombs, sickles and other weapons,\" Bimantoro told
\njournalists after attending a Cabinet meeting.<\/p>\n
The attackers set fire to Bondowoso Police station and in
\ntheir efforts to repel and disperse the mob, police shot dead
\nfive and left several injured.<\/p>\n
\"In facing it (the attack), the police went through all
\nexisting procedures, from using rubber bullets to live ones,\"
\nBimantoro said.<\/p>\n
He said the attack was in protest of the release of a murder
\nsuspect.<\/p>\n
Police released the suspect due to lack of evidence, Bimantoro
\nsaid, but the move angered the local population who torched the
\nsuspect's home and later attacked the police station.<\/p>\n
He said that the situation in Bondowoso had since returned to
\nnormal.<\/p>\n
\"The situation is now calm,\" Bimantoro said, adding that the
\nprovince's police chief, Insp. Gen. Dai Bachtiar, had immediately
\ngone to Bondowoso and held talks with local public and religious
\nleaders.<\/p>\n
Bondowoso Police chief Supt. Marwoto Suto said later in the
\nday, however, that security personnel were still on high alert to
\nanticipate further unrest.<\/p>\n
He also said that a platoon of police Mobile Brigade personnel
\nand one battalion of Army troops from the nearby town of Jember
\nwould be deployed to Bondowoso to reinforce security.<\/p>\n
However, from the East Java provincial capital of Surabaya,
\nthe regional chief of the Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization,
\nAli Maschan Moesa, claimed that the unrest was sparked by
\npeople's discontent over Marwoto's possible involvement in a
\ngambling ring.<\/p>\n
\"The East Java Police chief has even acknowledged that he
\n(Marwoto) is slow in tackling gambling. But the people of
\nBondowoso feel that he is not only slow but actually behind the
\ngambling,\" Ali said as quoted by Antara, adding that Marwoto must
\nbe replaced.<\/p>\n
\"The police chief has promised that he will be replaced ... I
\nhave told people the news, and that's why the situation has
\ncalmed down,\" Ali added.(byg\/nur)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/bondowoso-police-shoot-dead-five-attackers-1447893297",
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