40 questioned over rioting

PURWODADI, Central Java: Police here are questioning 40 people in connection with a riot on New Year's Eve that led to a house, two forest police posts and two police motorbikes being set on fire.

Chief of the local police precinct, Lt. Col. Cornelis, said yesterday the people were among hundreds of villagers of Ginggangtani, 40 kilometers southeast of Semarang, who ran amok following rumors that their neighbor had been shot to death by forest police who caught him attempting to steal logs.

"We are hunting down other suspects on charges of causing the riot and wounding some police officers," Cornelis said.

Nobody was killed in the incident.

A spokesman for the local forestry office, Sundoro, told The Jakarta Post the forest police shot Kodri, 30, in self-defense.

"Police fired bullets in the air, asking Kodri and those in his company who committed the theft to surrender, but they defied the order and fought back," Sundoro said.

Three police officers were beaten in the brawl, said Sundoro. Kodri hurt his jaw after a bullet grazed it. He was admitted to Panti Wilasa Hospital in Semarang.

Sundoro said log thefts were rampant here, compared to other towns in the province. (har)