Night curfew in Bagansiapi-api to restore order

JAKARTA (JP): A night curfew has been imposed in the fishing town of Bagansiapi-api in Riau province and schools have been temporarily closed in a bid to restore security following a riot on Tuesday night.

Bengkalis Military Commander Lt. Col. Sutan Lubis said late Wednesday the situation in the town with a population of 50,000 remained explosive but hoped calm would return soon.

"The situation here is gradually improving," Lubis' adjutant told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

A 72-year-old resident died of a heart attack during the riot after being shocked by the extent of the violence, Antara reported.

About 400 houses, mostly belonging to Chinese-Indonesians, were burned or damaged on Wednesday following rumors that an indigenous man had died in hospital after a brawl with Chinese- Indonesians. A minor traffic accident reportedly triggered the brawl.

Bagansiapi-api is famous as one of the country's major fishing ports. Its fishermen, dominated by Chinese-Indonesians, have expanded their activities to many areas.

At least 13 trawlers, four cars, 10 motorcycles and 20 houses belonging to Bagansiapi-api fishermen in Cilacap, Central Java, were burned during anti-Chinese violence in the city port at the end of last month.

In Parepare, South Sulawesi, security personnel caught dozens of looters red-handed on Thursday morning while they were plundering a big store on Jl. Bahumassepe.

According to Parepare Military Commander Lt. Col. Budi Purwanto, dozens of people also attacked an office of a local cooperative, Kospin, which had failed to return the deposits of its members.

"We are still questioning 22 alleged looters," Budi said.

Thousands of people ran amok on Wednesday and damaged five branches of Kospin which offered them very high interest rates on their deposits but then reportedly refused to pay its obligations.

In Purwokerto, Central Java, hundreds of angry Karanglewas Kidul villagers marched to the police station on Thursday afternoon. They were after Chief Sgt. Negah Suwijo who reportedly shot a gambler from the village.

Negah had led a police team on Wednesday night to raid a house where the victim Riswanto, 18, and his friends were playing poker.

"We managed to escape although we were very shocked after Negah shot Riswanto in the leg," said Siam, the victim's friend.

Banyumas Police Chief Lt. Col. Agus Yudharto said he could not tolerate Negah's harsh action against the youths and vowed to punish his subordinate.

The villagers left the station after getting an assurance from Agus that Negah would be punished. The victim is still in the hospital.

North Sumatra Police Spokesman Lt. Col. Amrin Karim said massive strikes by public transportation drivers and vandalism on Monday and Tuesday were allegedly masterminded by seven unidentified agitators.

"They threw stones at shops and offices and moved from one to another places to provoke people's anger," Amrin told Antara Thursday.

He said the police had released 58 of the 74 alleged rioters arrested during the trouble. (45/prb)