Grenade attack injures four people in North Sumatra

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

A grenade attack left four employees of a cooperative in the remote North Sumatra subdistrict of Asam Jawa injured late on Monday, police said on Tuesday.

Labuhan Batu Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Didit Prabowo said that the device was tossed by a group of people riding in a speeding black Kijang minivan, but it exploded in front of the Sawit Makmur Mandiri Cooperative building situated in Labuhan Batu regency, some 350 kilometers south of Medan.

The grenade exploded six meters away from the offices of the cooperative, which runs an palm oil plantation.

Didit said that although the grenade missed the target, it injured Pikir Ginting, 24, Masin, 24, Darwin Sembiring, 29, and Yakin Ginting, 24, all security guards of the cooperative. They were chatting at the guard post when the attack occurred at around 8 p.m.

The victims are being treated in the Rantauprapat hospital due to injuries they sustained from shrapnel from the grenade.

Witnesses said the attackers sped off in the direction of the neighboring town of Pinang after the blast.

A police detective found that the explosion left a 5- centimeter-deep hole in the yard.

Didit said that the preliminary police investigation had identified the grenade as being of the pineapple type, which is commonly used by the military.

"However, we are still investigating whether it was of foreign or domestic origin," Didit told The Jakarta Post.

Regarding the motive for the attack, Didit said that the police were investigating a number of possibilities.

"The attack may have its roots in an internal dispute in the cooperative recently that involved security guards and the cooperative managers," Didit said.

Based on the security guards' account, Didit said he did not rule out the possible involvement of some of the managers.

Besides an internal dispute, the police are also focusing their investigations on a dispute over shares in the cooperative, which pits the managers of the cooperative against its sponsor company, PT Sungai Pinang. The dispute has been ongoing for two years.