Five more killed in 'ninja' murder spree

Five more killed in 'ninja' murder spree

JAKARTA (JP): Five more people were lynched by mobs in several
districts of Central Java after residents accused them of being
members of marauding gangs of "ninja" assassins who have killed
more than 180 people in the neighboring province of East Java in
the past few months.

Two of the victims were killed in Jepara, two others were
beaten to death in Bumiayu, while the last one was killed in
Demak. It has been confirmed that at least three of the victims
were mentally ill men and a woman -- who was forced to strip. The
murders took place Thursday afternoon.

The incidents have been confirmed by Jepara Police precinct
chief Lt. Col. Monang Manulang and Bonang district chief Djatmiko
in Demak.

"This has gone too far," said Manulang. "People do need to
secure their villages, but killing mentally ill people? Residents
should not take the law into their own hands."

Meanwhile, Suara Pembaruan evening daily reported that Central
Java Police had rounded up some 200 mentally disturbed people to
prevent them from being lynched by mobs who might suspect them of
being assassins, a report said Friday.

Provincial police chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi said the police had
launched an operation on Nov. 3 to pick up homeless, mentally
disturbed people and so far had been able to round up some 200
men and women.

Nurfaizi was quoted by the daily as saying the operation was
launched following cases of mentally ill people being attacked by
mobs which believed they were "ninja" assassins because they
walked alone at night and refused to answer questions.

The police chief said those rounded up were not under arrest
but were given protection at police posts in the areas where they
were found.

Black-clad assailants initially targeted traditional Javanese
witchcraft practitioners but later spread to include Moslem
teachers and scholars in the area.

The killings have taken place mostly in East Java, but fears
of the killers have raised tension throughout Java, with some
reports saying they may be linked to conflict within the
country's political elite.

There has been a grisly backlash to the killings, with
suspected "ninjas" lynched, even in areas of West and Central
Java. Mobs have attacked, burned, hanged and beaten to death
people found without identification or roaming the countryside
after dark.

The Indonesian Medical Association (IDI) has protested the
fact that many with mental disorders have been among innocent
victims.

Separately, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Subagyo Hadisiswoyo said
in Jakarta he would check reports that suspected "ninjas"
operating in East Java were ex-servicemen who deserted from the
Army's Special Force (Kopassus).

"If proven that Kopassus deserters are involved in the murder
spree and have trained youths to be 'ninjas' to intimidate Moslem
clerics, they must be punished," he said.

DeTak tabloid recently quoted a former Kopassus member as
saying that Kopassus deserters suspected of being involved in the
murder spree were trained in Cikarang, West Java.

Separately, the terror raised by the murders has spread to
even remoter regions. In Waikabubak, Sumba, East Nusa Tenggara,
19 were killed in an inter-neighborhood fight which erupted
following rumors that masked killers were roaming the streets.

Udayana Regional Military Commander Maj. Gen. Adam R. Damiri
denied local paper reports about the rumored presence of masked
men.

Thousands of residents of Loli subdistrict fought with others
from East Wewewa district, according to police, following the
looting of homes of Loli people living in Wewewa.

The Wewewa residents attacked people from Loli after hearing
that some "ninjas" from Loli were heading for Wewewa to kill
people, East Nusa Tenggara Police chief Col. E.P. Hillep said.

Hillep said the fight involved traditional weapons such as
spears and machetes and that the violence forced shopping
centers, schools and offices there to close.

Some 700 people sought refuge at the police headquarters, he
added.

Hillep said that although order in the two subdistricts had
been restored, tension was still high. (yac/rms/har/45)