18 youth detained over street brawl in Tangerang

18 youth detained over street brawl in Tangerang

TANGERANG (JP): Military personnel here have netted 18 youths
for allegedly possessing, among other things, a Molotov cocktail,
a crowbar, pocket knives and swords and sickles during a noisy
street brawl on Saturday.

Tangerang Military chief Lt. Col. Meris Wiryadi said that most
of the detained teenagers were students of a local technical high
school.

But one of the suspects, identified as M. Ridwan, 18, was
believed to be "a hoodlum from Jakarta" and at the spot on
Saturday afternoon to provoke the students from both STM 80 and
STM-PGRI technical school to get involved in the clash, Meris was
quoted by Antara as saying.

During the fight, student Edwin P., 15, from another technical
school, STM Yupentek, received a serious head wound.

"I was not involved in the fight. I was suddenly hit in the
head by a rock while I was on my way to my school," he said.

Meris gave no further details of the arrested students but
said that all of the suspects had been handed over to the police.

When contacted later, Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji
Hartanto said that along with evidence, he only had 16 students
in his custody.

Pudji said nothing about Ridwan but expressed his strong
opinion that Saturday's brawl between the two schools on Jl.
Perintis Kemerdekaan, Cikokol, was ignited by a third party.

"If there's nothing behind the fight, how could the students
dare to start the fight in their school compound before moving it
out to the street?" he asked.

According to Pudji, police would not release the detained
students into their parents' care this time, as is usually done,
because there was adequate evidence gathered of the crimes
committed by the students.

"We'll never free these students. We'll process them and hand
over their dossiers to the prosecutor's office prior to their
trials in Tangerang court.

"We want to teach them a lesson," Pudji said.

Both Pudji and Meris admitted that student brawls in the
mayoralty have reached a tense level and the situation badly
required an immediate move to solve it.

Both officers also urged headmasters and parents of all high
schools in Tangerang to help the authorities to curb the number
of street brawls here.

According to military personnel, the students of STM 80 had
attacked their rivals of STM-PGRI on purpose by marching in a
crowd carrying a black flag that read Veteran (veterans of) STM
80 Tangerang.

When asked about what actually caused Saturday's fight,
teachers from both schools could not give a specific answer.

Teacher Yono, 45, said that his students involved in the fight
were all good students in their classes.

"We regret it if they fight outside, which makes the security
officers busy and the traffic congested," he said. (41/bsr)