Murders may move to other areas

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.