FPI men lost in city: Police chief

JAKARTA: The 113 members of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) were not missing, as the group had claimed, but were lost in the city, Jakarta Police chief Insp.Gen. Sofjan Jacoeb said on Thursday.

As they had come from Surakarta, Central Java, the police chief speculated, they probably had not been able to find their way around the city to return to FPI headquarters, detik.com reported.

"If they are proved to be missing, we will carry out an investigation and search for them," he added.

FPI claimed that over 100 of their members went missing after their demonstration was broken up by the police on Monday.

Sofjan also said that three police Mobile Brigade (Brimob) officers had been declared suspects in the assault on a group of journalists during the demonstration.

The three officers are currently in custody at Brimob Headquarters in Kelapa Dua, Depok, he added.--JP