One arrested hotel shooting

BATAM, Riau: Batam Police have detained a man on Thursday believed to be involved in a shooting at a hotel on Batam island.

Batam Police chief Supt. Bachrul Effendi told reporters that the detainee was identified only as Bus, while two other people identified only as Dar and Hel were still at large.

The commotion at the Pelangi Hotel started when Bus and Dar, security officers at the Batam authority, along with Hel and Lis tried to extort Rp 15 million from an Chinese-Indonesian named Amin on Monday, Supt. Bachrul said, denying that the case was related to narcotics.

"Amin only brought Rp 5 million with him, promising to hand over Rp 10 million the following day," he said. "However, Amin reported his trouble to a member of Police's Mobile Brigade Sgt. Tatang, who was claimed to be his good friend."

Tatang and three other companions waited at the hotel until Lis, accompanied by Second Pvt. Bambang Sutopo and Jr. Chief Pvt. Tohir, both reportedly soldiers, arrived to ask Amin for the Rp 10 million.

A heated argument between Tatang's group and the soldiers ended when Tatang shot Sutopo. Tohir ran to a nearby money changer where a friend of his was guarding the office. Tohir took an M-16 rifle from his friend and returned to the hotel to shoot Tatang.

Reports indicate that Tatang was shot in the leg. The extent of his injuries was not reported.

Batam Military District chief Lt. Col. Yul Aviandi said that the military police would tackle the shooting, while the extortion would be handled by the police. (26/sur)