11 Serpong villagers arrested for looting
JAKARTA (JP): Tangerang police detectives have busted 11 Sarimulya villagers in Serpong for allegedly being involved in the recent looting of thousands of livestock and the burning of the animals' byres.
"All of the suspects are still under intensive investigation as we track down the real mastermind (of this incident)," Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto Iskandar said on Thursday.
The officer refused to identify the 11, who were believed to be among the 600 people who set fire to the pens and stole the animals belonging to a local farmer named Icon, 46, on Wednesday evening.
According to the owner, he lost 37 cows, 18 buffaloes, 5,003 ducks and 100 pigs, causing estimated total losses of Rp 500 million (US$55,250).
The mobs dispersed only after a troop of Mobile Brigade and riot police officers were dispatched to the area.
Pudji said he had assigned a special team to trace the "intellectual actor" behind the looting as police had learned that most of the looters were merely followers.
"We have indeed identified the intellectual actor of this looting," he said, but gave no further explanation.
Antara reported that the incident was sparked by last week's arrest of two Sarimulya villagers, Uting, 30. and Sido, 36, by police officers based on a report by Icon, who accused the two of stealing fish from his pond.
After being questioned, the two were detained for two days but then released due to the lack of evidence.
After learning about the arrest and the lack of evidence, some of the local villagers got angry and prepared to teach Icon a lesson.
The villagers said that they first intended to discuss the case with Icon but he rejected the idea.
"It might have been Icon's refusal that sparked the incident," commented villager Mulyadi, 25.
Looting of farms and ponds has become more frequent in Tangerang during this time of hardship.
On July 13, for example, about 1.5 tons of shrimps were stolen from ponds in the area by about 2,000 people. It caused an estimated Rp 180 million in losses.
In the week after the incident, police questioned 80 villagers before finally naming four people as suspects: two as provocateurs and the other two as looters.
On July 25, the police shot dead an alleged shrimp looter for resisting arrest and arrested two others at a shrimp pond.
The two other suspects, identified as Surya, 46, and Tagwid, 40, were captured when trying to escape with about 25 kilograms of shrimps.
The officers also confiscated the boat, a fishing net, a sickle and shrimps wrapped in plastic bags. (bsr)