Mobs lynch four 'suspected ninjas' in East Java<\/p>\n
SURABAYA (JP): Villagers in East Java have lynched four men
\nwho they suspected were involved in a wave of \"ninja\" killings,
\nincluding three who were dragged out of their car, police and
\nsources said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The four men were killed in two separate attacks. One died in
\nGadungan village, Puncu subdistrict in Kediri regency, while the
\nother three died in Brondong village in Lamongan.<\/p>\n
They were all suspected to be among the mysterious killers of
\nover 100 Moslem preachers and \"black magic practitioners\" over
\nthe past three months in the province.<\/p>\n
Kediri Police chief Lt. Col. Edy Soehardjo said Gadungan
\nvillagers on night watch caught two unidentified men in the early
\nhours of Tuesday.<\/p>\n
Edy said the villagers mobbed the two men after they failed to
\nproduce identity cards. One died on his way to the hospital while
\nthe other is in a coma at the Pare hospital.<\/p>\n
In Lamongan, regency police chief Lt. Col. Agus Pratikto said
\nthree men driving a car were halted at about 4:30 a.m. on Monday
\nby residents patrolling the Brondong village.<\/p>\n
The men told the villagers they were Madurese from Sampang,
\naccording to Agus.<\/p>\n
The three men -- identified by AFP as 35-year-old driver
\nSaudi, businessman Masriji, 37, and Samujar bin Alam, 42. They
\nwere on their way to their hometown on Madura island.<\/p>\n
Rather than producing identity cards as the villagers
\ndemanded, the three victims challenged the night watch members to
\na fight, Agus said.<\/p>\n
The three were later mobbed to death after the villagers found
\nthree traditional Madurese daggers in their car. Police, who were
\noutnumbered, came a little too late, Agus said.<\/p>\n
\"I am really sorry for the masses who have become fiercer.
\nIt's a heart-wrenching incident,\" Agus said.<\/p>\n
In Surabaya on Tuesday, National Mandate Party (PAN) chairman
\nAmien Rais again urged the security apparatus to work fast to
\nresolve the widespread killings.<\/p>\n
Amien said the sluggishness with which security forces were
\ndealing with the problem had provoked unhealthy speculation.<\/p>\n
\"If we judge the magnitude, the number of killings and the
\n(slow) acts of the apparatus themselves... it seems that this
\n(the murder spree) is not a pure crime.<\/p>\n
\"There must be political motives behind the murders. For
\ninstance, they could be used to divert attention from the
\n(ineffective) investigation into (former president) Soeharto's
\nwealth,\" he said.<\/p>\n
However, East Java Military Chief Maj. Gen. Djoko Subroto
\nagain denied his men had been slow in investigating the killings.<\/p>\n
Speaking with local Moslem leaders in Jember on Monday night,
\nDjoko admitted the military had found it difficult to obtain
\ninformation on the masterminds of the killings.<\/p>\n
He blamed the mob who had lynched suspected murderers before
\nthe police could interrogate them.<\/p>\n
However, Djoko promised the Moslem clerics that the
\ninvestigation would continue. \"We won't shelve these cases. The
\ndossiers on (some of the already arrested) perpetrators are
\nalmost finished and by the end of this month their cases will be
\ntried in court,\" Djoko said.<\/p>\n
So far, investigations show that the killings are purely
\ncriminal acts, he said.<\/p>\n
He said that although the security apparatus had yet to find
\nproof, the possibility of political motives behind the murders
\nhad not been dismissed.<\/p>\n
The Moslem leaders complained that villagers' religious
\nactivities had been disrupted since the killings became rampant.
\nSo great and pervasive is their fear that residents have stopped
\ngoing to the mosque for dusk prayers.<\/p>\n
\"This condition must be handled quickly, as we'll be entering
\nthe fasting month (in mid-December),\" Zainun Nasir of the Al
\nJauhar traditional boarding school, one of the Moslem clerics,
\nwas quoted by Antara as saying.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in Surabaya again, chairman of East Java's
\nNahdlatul Ulama (NU) chapter Hasyim Muzadi called on East
\nJavanese to beware of unidentified groups' campaigns to divide
\nthem.<\/p>\n
One of the ways was by shifting the issue of the murders into
\nan interreligious conflict, he charged without
\nelaborating. (nur\/aan)<\/p>",
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