7 arrested for killing sergeant

UJUNGPANDANG, South Sulawesi: Police have arrested seven people they suspect of murdering Sgt. Maj. Syamsuddin last week.

The suspects were arrested in Masamba, about 500 kilometers north of here on Sunday, police said yesterday.

Syamsuddin was attacked near his office on June 23 and allegedly killed by the seven people after he scolded them for beating his son. He had suffered multiple stab wounds.

A source at Ujungpandang military police headquarters said one of Syamsuddin's attackers was a former prisoner.

With the sergeant's murder still fresh in the minds of townspeople, the capital was rocked by the murder of a soldier, Chief Sergeant Salamun, on Monday.

Three people mobbed Salamun when he was trying to intervene in a brawl between a suspect and a resident. (37)