Drunken police officer shoots his superior in Bali

I Wayan Juniartha, The Jakarta Post, Bali

A drunken member of the Bali Police's elite Mobile Brigade (Brimob) caused an embarrassing incident for the local police on Saturday afternoon when he repeatedly fired his assault rifle into the air and later hit a local police chief in the face.

Kuta police chief Adj. Comr. M. Anwar was grazed by a bullet fired by the drunken officer as he tried to take him to the police station.

"I can confirm the incident, but I have not been able to get sufficient information to provide you with the details yet, since the local Brimob commander is currently still in Jakarta," Bali Police spokesperson said.

The officer, identified only as Gede Aryata, was a member of the Brimob platoon assigned to secure the four-star Bali Garden Hotel in Bali's premier tourist area of Kuta.

Officials from the Denpasar District Court, assisted by some 150 police officers, were enforcing a Supreme Court ruling that the hotel should be seized.

The shooting took place at around 3 p.m. local time on the beach next to the hotel. It was reported that the shooting caused panic among tourists on Kuta beach.

The officer's actions also angered local people, who had just finished attending a religious ritual.

The local people were on the verge of approaching the officer when the Kuta Police chief Adj. Comr. M. Anwar arrived on the scene.

"I immediately drove to the hotel after hearing about the incident. Realizing that the local people were very angry about the incident, I decided to take Aryata to the police station. I took him in my car," Anwar told.

During the trip to the station, Anwar rebuked Aryata for what he called "an embarrassing and improper act for a police officer".

Apparently, Aryata became enraged, and all of sudden punched Anwar in the face.

"It was a blatant act of insubordination, so I straightened him out a little after we arrived at the station," Anwar said.

Anwar also immediately reported the incident to the local police's top brass, who later ordered the Brimob platoon to leave the hotel at once and to return to their headquarters in the Tohpati area of Denpasar's eastern outskirts. The platoon left the hotel at around 5 p.m.

"A heated argument erupted when Aryata's superior, escorted by two Brimob officers, came to the police station to pick him up. One of the officers said that he loathed the way I handled the incident. He even went further, challenging me to a fist-fight. But, we managed to resolve the matter peacefully. I was later informed that Aryata was being detained in Brimob's detention facility pending an investigation into his conduct," Anwar stated.

Anwar himself put his men on alert after the incident, especially after he received a report that Aryata's friends would attack the police station in an act of revenge. The attack never materialized, however.