Twenty people injured in Idul Fitri brawl<\/p>\n
PURBALINGGA, Central Java (JP): At least 20 people were
\nwounded, five of them from gunshots, when some 1,000 people from
\ntwo villages in Purbalingga regency, were involved in a fierce
\nbrawl on Thursday, the sixth in the last two years.<\/p>\n
At least five houses were totally destroyed and many others
\nwere partially ravaged, and three shops were looted in the brutal
\nactions on the second day of Idul Fitri.<\/p>\n
Purbalingga Police chief Supt. Sukamto Handoko said that
\npolice had to disperse the crowd with gunshots when the looters
\nstarted to set ablaze the goods they stole from the shops and
\nignored warning shots.<\/p>\n
Sukamto confirmed that five people were shot in the leg.<\/p>\n
Most of the residents involved in the brawl were villagers who
\nworked in Jakarta and were spending the Idul Fitri holidays at
\nhome, said Sukamto.<\/p>\n
The brawl was triggered by a heated argument between a group
\nof teenagers from Bantarbarang village and the porter of the
\nJendral Sudirman Monument tourist site.<\/p>\n
\"It was on Wednesday when the five teenagers, without any
\ntickets, asked Rubito, the porter, to let them in. The teenagers
\nrefused to buy entrance tickets and threatened to beat Rubito,\"
\nofficer Sukamto said, quoting Rubito.<\/p>\n
Irritated, Rubito went home, asking some fellow villagers to
\nseek the five teenagers in the area. Fighting erupted, but local
\nsecurity officers managed to separate them.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, a large number of people from Karangjati marched
\nto Bantarbarang, where another group of hundreds of people were
\nwaiting. They all carried sharp weapons to face their \"enemies\".<\/p>\n
A brutal brawl erupted. Five houses were totally ravaged while
\nmany others were partially destroyed.<\/p>\n
Three platoons of Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) arrived
\nwhen the two groups of villagers were beating and stabbing each
\nother.<\/p>\n
\"They ignored the police's warning shots and kept fighting
\nuntil the officers fired shots at them directly, injuring five of
\nthem,\" Sukamto said, adding that the mob dispersed soon after
\nfive of them were shot.<\/p>\n
Police records indicate that the two villages had developed
\nemnity two years ago, and five brawls have previously taken
\nplace.<\/p>\n
\"As many as 81 people, all Bantarbarang residents, were
\narrested. Most of them were villagers who worked in Jakarta and
\nwere in their home towns to celebrate Idul Fitri,\" he said,
\nadding that 35 machetes, swords, axes and sickles were
\nconfiscated from them.<\/p>\n
\"The people are now held at the Police Office hall under tight
\nsecurity because the Police cell can only hold 50 people, while
\nthere are now 60 people in the cell. How can we add another 81?\"
\n(45\/sur)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/twenty-people-injured-in-idul-fitri-brawl-1447893297",
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