Gunshot wound found on Alcino's body

Gunshot wound found on Alcino's body

DILI (JP): Police forensic experts found yesterday a gunshot
wound and a small object believed to be a bullet in the body of
Alcino da Costa, a man killed Friday in a brawl in Baucau.

East Timor Police Chief Col. Yusuf Mucharam also said the
younger brother of a member of the Baucau military district
command had not been stabbed.

"The object is now being examined at the National Police
forensic laboratory in Jakarta," Yusuf told The Jakarta Post at
the Mahkota Timor Hotel in Dili.

Alcino, 29, was killed when a fierce brawl erupted among
youths at a Golkar-sponsored concert in the village of Bucoli in
Baucau Kota district, 150 kilometers east of here.

The death of the Golkar member angered hundreds of people who
went on the rampage.

They torched two cars belonging to the chairman of the Baucau
legislative council and the head of the local agriculture office
before marching to the regent's residence.

Police mobile brigade officers fired warning shots to disperse
the protesters.

Governor Abilio Jose Osorio Soares announced soon after
Alcino's death that the man had not been killed by a member of
the military or police. "He was allegedly killed by a group of
people who oppose the government, Golkar and the Armed Forces,"
he said.

Yusuf said yesterday the killing of Alcino was probably
planned by Fretilin rebels who wanted to discredit the Armed
Forces.

He said his subordinates had handled the brawl and the death
of Alcino very promptly. "Otherwise the brawl would have spread
to other areas," he said.

Police have arrested four people believed to have know who
initiated the brawl and killed Alcino. They are currently being
interrogated as witnesses. (33/sur)