Angry bob ransacks 'Kaltim Pos' office

Angry bob ransacks 'Kaltim Pos' office

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

An angry mob ransacked the office of the Kaltim Pos daily in
Samarinda, East Kalimantan, for unspecified reasons, at 8 a.m on
Tuesday.

Witnesses said the incident occurred when some 20 people in a
pickup truck pelted stones at the office, damaging the front
windows, a motorcycle and a computer monitor.

Witnesses, a security guard and two staff of the daily, were
unable to stop the attack for fear of being threatened by the
attackers.

Deputy chief editor of the daily Safril Teha Nor regretted the
attack and called on the police to investigate it thoroughly.

"I'm on my way from Balikpapan to Samarinda and I cannot give
any explanations now. We regret the incident," Antara quoted him
as saying by cellophane.

He said he did not know whether the attack had something to do
with the daily's recent news on sensitive issues in the province.

Samarinda Police have interrogated the pickup driver, who said
that he was not involved in the attack and that his vehicle had
been chartered by the attackers.

Chief of detectives of the city police Comr. Hisbullah said
that from the driver, the police had obtained the names of 13 of
the 20 people involved in the incident.

"In order to assist our investigations into the incident, we
won't release the 13 names," he said.

According to the security guard, the incident was connected to
the daily's expose on the recent dismissal of a local forestry
official for collusion in illegal logging operations in the
province.