Hercules named suspect in attack on 'Indo Pos' daily

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Jakarta Police have arrested members of a gang and their leader Hercules in relation to the attack on the office of Indo Pos daily in South Jakarta last Tuesday.

Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani said on Friday that Hercules and 12 other men were arrested on Thursday evening and were being held at city police headquarters.

"We have questioned Hercules and members of his gang. Moreover, we have sufficient evidence to name several of them as suspects," he said.

Hercules was among those declared suspects, Firman said.

Twenty people from Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, who claimed allegiance to Hercules, descended last Tuesday on Graha Pena, the office of Indo Pos daily to demand an explanation for an article in its Monday edition on thuggery in Tanah Abang.

The gang members said the reporter had not interviewed them for the article. They also asked the daily's chief editor Irwan Setiawan to explain the article in person.

The article talks about a change in Tanah Abang, whereby a new generation of thugs have taken over the area from Hercules, who was said in the article to have studied Islam in Cirebon, West Java.

Several men entered the building by force, seeking out the one responsible for the article. They then assaulted two reporters and threatened to destroy all computers in the building if they were not shut down.

They continued to make trouble until officers from the South Jakarta Police ordered them off the property.

After the incident, Hercules said members of his gang had been at Indo Pos to demand an explanation from the reporter.

He said he was not a thug as described in the article as he had never extorted money from store owners or residents of Tanah Abang.

Firman said the police would charge the suspected attackers under Article 170 of the Criminal Code on attacking and injuring people and on destroying private property.

Under the article, a suspect could be sentenced to nine years' imprisonment if found guilty.

The attack sent the message to National Police chief Gen. Sutanto that his nationwide campaign against thuggery did not achieve its objective.

The operation called Sarutama was launched in May after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ordered Sutanto and provincial administrations across the country to crack down on thuggery as the President had received many complaints about the practice through SMS.

Thousands of thugs were arrested in the operation but a large number of them were later released without charges.