Mutilated body found in bags

BANJARMASIN, South Kalimantan: The residents of Banjarmasin were shocked upon finding two bags, which turned out later to contain human body parts, on two rivers on Saturday and Tuesday.

The first bag was found on Saturday on the Martapura river, which crosses the city of Banjarmasin, and the second bag, slightly smaller than the first, was found on a smaller river, around one kilometer away.

Police confirmed on Tuesday that the mutilated body in the two bags was that of a 37-year-old woman identified as Masratu, a trader living in the western part of the city.

Banjarmasin Police chief Sr. Comr. Suhardjito told reporters at Masratu's residence that police had arrested a suspect identified as Bambang Ponco Soekarno, a father of four children.

Saying that it was the most sadistic murder that had ever occurred in the province, Suhardjito said that Bambang admitted to having killed Masratu over his family's Rp 20 million debt to her.

Bambang's wife had just left him for personal reasons when Masratu came to ask him to return the money. "He was enraged and attacked the woman," Suhardjito said.

Residents became angry upon hearing that Bambang was the murderer. They ransacked Bambang's house on Tuesday. (32/sur)

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Students seek refuge after brawl

MEDAN, North Sumatra: At least 200 students of the Catholic University of St. Thomas here started seeking refuge at the provincial legislative council building on Tuesday for fear that residents living around their campus would attack their boarding houses. This followed a two-day fierce brawl between them in which 60 students were rushed to hospital with injuries.

The students said they felt unsafe staying at the boarding houses, which are located around the campus. They also criticized the campus management's decision to close the campus for one week following the bloody clash.

Chairman of Students Council Bernas Nababan told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the students had no other place that was secure from intimidation by local residents, who had been searching for them in the vicinity of the campus since Sunday.

"We reported to the Medan Police about our being here and the police chief agreed."

The brawl, which erupted on Friday night, was initiated by the residents' anger at the students, whom they accused of having extorted a street vendor.

Some students acknowledged that the brawl had been triggered by some of their number. "Six students refused to pay completely for the meal they had eaten at a roadside stall. The stall owner became angry and hit one of the students, unconfirmed reports said. That happened on Friday night," said a student who asked to remain anonymous. "The stall owner was usually very tolerant of the students when they were unable to pay completely for their meal. But on Friday night he got very angry, although the students owed him only Rp 3,000."

Meanwhile, police were still on alert on Tuesday at the campus, whose buildings housing the Law, Technical and Literature schools, which were partly damaged.

There was no reports on how the university had approached the residents to make peace. (42/sur)

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EU gives Rp 40m for refugees

KUPANG, East Nusa Tenggara: The European Union has provided the Indonesian government with Rp 40 million in aid for the continuation of the resettlement program for some 200,000 East Timor refugees who have opted to remain in Indonesia.

The head of East Nusa Tenggara Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure office Piet Djami Rebo told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday that the money would be used to finance the construction of 1,500 houses for the refugees in separate areas in the province.

"The regencies of Kupang, Central Timor Selatan, Central Timor Utara, Belu, Sumba and Flores have offered land for the refugees' houses," he said.

"We have built 2,300 houses in several areas in the province for the refugees since the resettlement program started early last year."

The project was stopped due to a shortage of funds. "Now that we will receive financial aid from the European Union the project can resume." (30/sur)

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Eight Cilacap fishermen drown

CILACAP, Central Java: Eight fishermen from Cilacap were missing after their motor boat Perintis II was destroyed by large waves off the southern coast on Monday, chairman of the fishermen's association Atas Munandar confirmed on Tuesday.

According to Atas, who is chief of the local search-and-rescue team, the ill-fated boat set sail from Cilacap port on Sunday evening. The boat, navigated by Sutanto, was equipped with a large net locally known as a jaring kantung.

The eight missing people are Sutanto, the navigator, Sartono, Marto, Tugirwan, Sukanto, Minggu, Pujo Suwarno and Slamet.

They were all over 40 years old except for Slamet, who was only 19.

Quoting other fishermen, Atas said that the boat was last seen at the Penanjungan area, some 11 kilometers (seven miles) off the Pangandaran beach. "The boat was torn apart and sank after large waves hit it," Atas quoted an eyewitness as saying.

"We've been working hard but we've found none of the missing people," he said. (45/sur)