Police probe cause of mass mobbing<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Police in the East Java cities of Surabaya and
\nGresik are still investigating an incident in Menganti district
\nin which nine people were mobbed to death Thursday because they
\nwere suspected of trying to steal a motorcycle.<\/p>\n
\"We are investigating the case,\" Col. Amanuddin Zain, chief of
\nthe Surabaya Police Precinct, said yesterday.<\/p>\n
The bloody incident began when Bibis villagers in the district
\ncaught Agus Effendy allegedly trying to steal a motorcycle
\nThursday night. Agus told the villagers he was with eight other
\npeople, who were waiting for him in a minibus.<\/p>\n
Angered by a recent spate of motorcycle thefts, the villagers
\ndragged Agus to a security post and tortured him to death.
\nHundreds of other villagers then sought Agus' friends and
\nattacked them.<\/p>\n
Agus died on the spot, while the other eight died on the way
\nto the hospital. The mob set the vehicle on fire after they
\nclaimed to have found tools that could be used to steal
\nmotorcycles.<\/p>\n
Col. Sudarto, chief of the Gresik Police Precinct, deplored
\nthe brutality.<\/p>\n
\"The villagers tried and punished the nine people themselves
\nrather than handing them over to the police. Besides, there is no
\nevidence yet that the nine people were a gang of thieves,\"
\nSudarto said.<\/p>\n
He also said the tools could in fact have been planted by the
\nvillagers to create the impression that the nine were thieves.<\/p>\n
He said nobody had been arrested for the incident, but that
\npolice had questioned four of the villagers.<\/p>\n
Nono, a critically ill pedicab driver who was transported in
\nthe minibus from Surabaya to Bibis village before the incident
\ntook place, is an important witness in the case.<\/p>\n
\"We hope he will get better soon and so he can tell the true
\nstory about whether the nine victims (were actually thieves),\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Chusnul Chotimah and Lardy, two lawyers representing the
\nvictims' families, said yesterday that they would sue the Bibis
\nvillagers.<\/p>\n
Maj. Gen. Djoko Subroto, chief of the Brawijaya Military
\nCommand overseeing East Java, also deplored the incident, saying
\nit would not have taken place had the villagers been able to
\nrestrain themselves. (rms)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/police-probe-cause-of-mass-mobbing-1447893297",
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