Cinangka villagers questioned over vandalism<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Bogor police officers on Friday were still
\nquestioning dozens of Cinangka villagers following the
\ndestruction of the office of the local Ciampea subdistrict chief
\non the previous day.<\/p>\n
As of Friday evening, the police had yet to name any of the
\nvillagers as suspects in leading the mob to vandalize the
\ngovernment property.<\/p>\n
\"Everything is already under control here as we're still
\ninvestigating the case,\" an officer at the Ciampea police
\nsubprecinct told The Jakarta Post over the phone on Friday.<\/p>\n
The officer, who asked not to be named, refused to give
\nfurther details about the questioning.<\/p>\n
Bogor police chief Lt. Col. Ferial Manaf could not be reached
\nfor comment.<\/p>\n
According to media reports, a group of some 300 Cinangka
\nvillagers attacked the empty office at 10 a.m. Thursday. They
\nwere expressing their frustration at the negative reaction of
\nCiampea subdistrict chief Iyun Mulyana to their complaints about
\nthe business melting storage batteries in their neighborhood.<\/p>\n
No fatalities were reported but Mulyana's office was badly
\ndamaged by the angry mob, who claimed to have many times urged
\nthe local authorities to close down the melting activity as it
\npolluted the local river and air.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the crowd was suddenly spotted swarming around
\nthe chief's office, causing a heavy traffic jam on the main road
\nthat links Bogor and Leuwiliang, south of here.<\/p>\n
On the first day after the Idul Fitri holidays the office was
\nstill empty. Mulyana was reportedly on holiday in his hometown of
\nGarut, West Java.<\/p>\n
After damaging the front of the office and pulling out the
\nsignboard in front of the building, the mob got inside the office
\nand vandalized everything they found.<\/p>\n
Some of them took out bundles of archives and documents from
\nthe office and threw them onto the street.<\/p>\n
The mob could only be dispersed peacefully a few hours later
\nthanks to the arrival of some 50 police officers and soldiers at
\nthe site.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, the security forces were alerted again
\nfollowing a fresh fight between the protesting residents and
\nlocals who were involved in the battery business.<\/p>\n
No serious incident happened but the security forces were
\nstill being asked to safeguard the area.<\/p>\n
According to the protesting villagers, they had several times
\nasked the local officers to immediately seal off the illegal
\nbusiness for the sake of their health and environment.<\/p>\n
\"But we so far got no positive response,\" said one of them.<\/p>\n
\"We became more upset after learning that our Cinangka village
\nchief, Mrs. Atang, also takes part in the business as a supplier
\nof charcoals,\" he added. (bsr)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/cinangka-villagers-questioned-over-vandalism-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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