Brimob, battalion officers come to blows over dispute

BOGOR (JP): Senior officers of the National Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit in Kedung Halang have contacted their counterparts from the 10th/76 Artillery Battalion in Ciluar to settle a dispute between the two groups following a violent clash between their men on Sunday night.

Deputy commander of the Kedung Halang regiment, Lt. Col. Saput told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that the coordination between his office and the Ciluar Army Battalion had yet to show any clear results.

"Personally, I'm still not sure that Mobile Brigade personnel and the Artillery soldiers were involved in a fight because so far none of the victims have been questioned," Saput said.

Witnesses and sources from both disputed groups disclosed that the Sunday night clash, believed to have resulted from a heated argument at a billiards hall at the Jambu Dua shopping mall, left at least private Safrin from the Mobile Brigade unit and Second Sgt. Nainggolan from the Artillery Battalion severely injured.

Both victims are being treated, respectively, at the Soekanto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, and the Gatot Subroto Army Hospital in South Jakarta, sources said.

Commander of the Ciluar Artillery Battalion Col. E. Ediawan Prabowo could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

According to a military source, who refused to be named, the personnel from the two groups were playing billiards at Jambu Dua Mall when some of them became involved in a heated argument which ended up in a fight.

"Their other friends managed to stop the quarrel, and the soldiers decided to go home," he recalled.

Some minutes later, Pvt. Safrin left the billiard hall and took a public minivan home.

"On the way home, the vehicle was stopped by five of six Army- type men, who removed Safrin from the van and beat him badly," the source said.

Safrin was stabbed in the abdomen, both thighs and forehead, he explained.

"After the attackers left the scene, grievously injured Safrin returned to the billiards hall to inform others about the incident."

Some of his friends then rushed Safrin to Salak Hospital here, while the rest hastily returned to their headquarters, asking for back up, he said.

At about midnight, hundreds of Mobile Brigade personnel converged on a street heading to the Artillery Battalion Headquarters.

"On their way, the group ran into Sgt. Nainggolan, who was just getting out of a car. Without any provocation, one of the police officers suddenly stabbed the soldier with a bayonet," he said.

Before the incident, the emotional policemen also beat up Pvt. Ni Rot, a soldier from the Medical Battalion in Ciluar, the source said.

The presence of the police officers on the street in the middle of the night resulted in the ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers abruptly leaving the area.

"We had no choice but to leave immediately. We were afraid that they would also beat us up, as some of the ojek drivers also had crew cut hairstyles," Sadjuri, one of the drivers, said.

Two years ago, personnel from the Kedung Halang Mobile Brigade unit were also involved in a fight with soldiers from another division due to the same reason: vengeance.

At the time, several ojek drivers and food vendors also became victims in the clash. (21/bsr)