No excuse for mob burning down hotel, say police

TANGERANG (JP): Tangerang Police are trying to determine what provoked a mob to set fire to a hotel on the town's main street on Saturday.

"We're still searching for the responsible parties in this arson, whether it was purely a protest by residents or provocateurs involved in the attack," Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto said on Sunday.

Pudji said no arrests were made in the incident. The mob also stripped a woman hotel employee and paraded her along the street.

Pudji expressed concern that the violence could cause unease among investors and businesspeople about security in the area.

"We deeply regret the street justice committed by the residents through frenziedly attacking and burning down the hotel.

"It's OK if they want to hold a protest. But this is the wrong way to express it," a visibly angry Pudji said .

"If (residents) go out and burn someone's property everytime they disagree about something, investors will be afraid to spend their capital here."

Regardless of the people's grievances, "arson is against the law", Pudji said.

"Fortunately the arson did not spread to nearby kampongs. If it did, imagine the losses that we would all suffer."

Hundreds of incensed Kadu Curug residents raided and set on fire Hotel Transoulindo on Jl. Raya Serang. They also assaulted the hotel owner, Wibisono, alias Chung.

He reportedly suffered severe injuries and was admitted to the intensive care unit of Tangerang General Hospital.

The incident started at about 2 p.m. when a group of residents gathered at the hotel to demand the closing of the compound housing 53 guest rooms, 13 karaoke rooms and a restaurant.

The mob denounced the hotel as "a source of immoral actions", saying it was a place of prostitution.

They started by vandalizing the hotel gate and then burned structures within the compound.

Stripped

A hotel employee, Heni, was stripped and paraded in public after the residents mistook her for a prostitute when they found her hiding in one of the rooms.

"This is the punishment for those ruining the morals of the Tangerang people," Nursa, one of the residents, yelled as the woman was carried aloft.

Police rescued her after she was carried a couple of blocks from the hotel.

Locals said they took action after their repeated complaints about the hotel's alleged illicit activities were to no avail.

"Two days ago, this place was sealed by the security and order officials," Alamsyah, another Curug resident, said.

"But the owner reopened the place without obeying the order."

Alamsyah said locals knew the hotel as a front for prostitution. They sent protest letters and warnings to Chung, he added.

"Before the raid, local residents warned Chung to pull down the place within one week," Alamsyah added.

Dozens of military and police officers rushed to the scene in an attempt to stop the violence from spreading.

Two fire brigades were deployed to put out the fire but were prevented from reaching the burning hotel by the crowd. (41/edt)