Drunken police officer shoots his superior in Bali

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.