Mobs vandalize entertainment spots

Mobs vandalize entertainment spots

BOGOR (JP): A total of 42 dimly lit kiosks and entertainment
spots on Jl. Raya Parung in Parung district here were vandalized
by an angry mob late on Monday.

The crowds also damaged the three biggest discotheques in the
area, namely Flamboyan, Sariwangi and Pendopo 45.

Local residents were reportedly afraid to go out as the mobs
vandalized the entertainment spots.

"My kiosk was already closed when hundreds of armed men
arrived and started to storm the place.. I could only watch as
they outnumbered us," Syamsul, one of the kiosk owners, said.

"I consider such action to be robbery as they broke into
people's properties, brandishing weapons such as sickles and
machetes, and took away valuable things such as radios and dozens
of bottles of beer," Syamsul said.

Head of the neighborhood association, Boim, however, said that
he knew nothing about the occurrence. "I was in Sukabumi at the
time of the incident."

A local resident named Dedi, 20, however, said that such
violent actions had been common ahead of the Ramadhan fasting
month.

"In fact, they (the mobs) came in three trucks but only two
trucks managed to enter Kampung Jabon and Kampung Kemang while
the other truck was intercepted by the police in Parung," Dedi
said.

The mob dispersed around midnight on Tuesday after the police
persuaded them to leave the area. (21/edt)