Murders may move to other areas

JAKARTA (JP): East Java Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dayat suggested there maybe efforts to fuel unrest in the province through an escalation of the "black magic murders" which have hit Malang regency in the past fortnight.

"From our observations we have gathered information which indicates that the black magic cases in south Malang could be escalated to Blitar and Kediri, he said on Friday as quoted by Antara.

He said police were arriving in force to prevent any such activities from taking place and to show a strong physical presence in the community.

"The presence is targeted at East Java, like in Ambon, Aceh and Irian Jaya," he said referring to other restive provinces.

Since the second week of December, Malang has been the sight of ongoing acts of murder which have left nine people dead. Many fear the pattern of the murders is similar to the 1998 Banyuwangi killings in which over 100 were killed.

Initially the Banyuwangi killings targeted victims who were allegedly practitioners of black magic, however religious teachers were also targeted.

Evaluating events over the past year, Dayat said he was relatively satisfied with security in the province.

He claimed that crime rates were not the primary gauge for measuring security, but rather a measure of the peace and security of its residents.

He said in terms of reported cases there was a decline from 23,126 in 1998 to 20,847 in 1999.

However, he conceded that there was a 15 percent increase in vehicle theft while drug related cases had rocketed to almost three times that of last year.

The Kediri regency was the location of the highest number of crimes in 1999, followed by Surabaya and Madiun.

"But we must continue to remain vigilant, because, as I said, there are reports that there is an attempt to escalate the murders to other areas," Dayat remarked.