Four shot dead in Flores melee

Yemris Fointuna, The Jakarta Post, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara

At least four people are dead and 24 others were injured when about 400 villagers clashed with police at the Ruteng Police station in Manggarai, East Nusa Tenggara, on Wednesday.

No detailed information was available about the victims and the incident late on Wednesday evening because of the limited communication facilities in the provincial capital, Kupang.

However, the riot was believed to have been triggered by a dispute over a coffee plantation, which police had destroyed after it was planted in a protected forest in the regency.

East Nusa Tenggara provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Edward Aritonang, who received a preliminary report on the incident, said officers had fired on about 400 villagers from Rendenao in Poco Ranaka, after they ran amok, stabbing a police cadet who was on duty and ransacking the police station with machetes and sticks.

Police fired after the mob ignored their warnings to disburse, he said. The crowd then attacked police personnel who were in the precinct's back yard.

"We will be investigating the shooting to find if it was conducted in accordance with the proper procedure or not," Edward said, before his departure to Ruteng.

The villagers were demanding the release of seven farmers who were undergoing a police interrogation.

The seven were detained by the local police because they were alleged to own the illegal plantations, he said.

On their way to the station to hold talks with police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Bony Tompoi, the villagers changed tactics and stormed the office.

The local administration has banned farming in the protected forest but locals have ignored the ban.

Since last year, it has destroyed about 15,000 hectares of coffee farms, despite protests from farmers.

Aritonang said the villagers held a meeting on Tuesday and unanimously agreed to defy the ban.

National Police Chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar said he would immediately send a team to Manggarai to investigate the incident.

"Stern action will be taken against any police officers who were found to have unnecessarily opened fire on the villagers," he said.

Order in the area had been restored after over 100 personnel from the local mobile police and anti-riot units were deployed.

However, the situation in Ruteng still remained tense on Wednesday evening, he said.