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.