One dies in village brawl in Bengkalis regency

Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru, Riau

A brawl erupted between villagers of Kuala Merbau, Bengkalis regency, Riau province, leaving at least one person dead and two others severely wounded, police said on Monday.

Riau Police chief Brig. Gen. Deddy S. Komaruddin said officers arrested six suspects after the brawl on Friday, which involved hundreds of villagers.

"Bengkalis Police have secured six suspects and are looking for three others. We hope the violence will not spread," he told The Jakarta Post here.

He said local police were mediating talks between the feuding parties to embrace and promote peace, through the community leaders of the rival parties.

The dead victim was identified as Azhar, 31, from the RW1 neighborhood. He died from stab wounds.

The two wounded victims are Syaiful, 35, whose left hand was severed, and Bakhtiar, 30, who lost three of his fingers. They were admitted to Bengkalis General Hospital for treatment.

The clash broke out on Friday about 10:30 p.m. between the RW1 and RW2 neighborhoods of Kuala Merbau village, believed to have been sparked by a personal vendetta.

Local residents said the brawl took place after Azhar was attacked by a group of armed people from RW 2.

"We believe there were 30 attackers, and nine of them are suspected of leading the brawl," Deddy said.

Riau Police deputy chief Sr. Comr. Soewadji, accompanied by Bengkalis Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Slamet Rianto, had gone to the location of the unrest to restore peace there.

He suspected revenge was the reason behind the violence, following an unrest in May when youths from RW1 attacked a man from the rival neighborhood.

Haidir, 35, from the village confirmed the brawl was sparked by a vendetta between youths from the two feuding neighborhoods.

Police are investigating the cause of the incident.

Bengkalis Deputy Regent Reza Pahlevi regretted the brawl that took place only three days after Idul Fitri, and urged local villagers to exercise self-restraint and avoid being provoked into violent acts.

Separately, in Magelang, Central Java, police said on Monday they had arrested four people charged with starting a brawl on Sunday between residents of Punduhan hamlet, Sambakan village, and those of Marjoyo hamlet, Banjaragung village, Kajoran subdistrict.

"By 3 p.m. on Monday, four suspects had been arrested and are being questioned," Magelang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sofyan Abadi was quoted by Antara as saying.

He declined to identify the four detainees, saying more suspects could be arrested soon.

The Sunday clash left four people -- Wahyudi, 25, Wahyono, 23, Sutoyo, 27, and Nugroho, 18 -- injured and nine houses damaged.

The violence was allegedly caused by a dispute between two local youths Wahyono, 23, and Rois Kurniawan, 15, over a girl.

Rois, from Marjoyo, apparently became jealous when Wahyono, from Punduhan, escorted his girlfriend Wasil, 14, home.

Wahyono was later stopped by two youths on his way back from Wasil's house. After they let him go, Wahyono and his friend Sutoyo, 27, went to Marjoyo to find the youths but failed.

Hours later, 15 youths from Marjoyo went to Sambakan to find Wahyono and beat him up. Several of his friends escaped the attack.

Later, around 200 Sambakan villagers went to Marjoyo to search for Wahyono's attackers, but failing to find them, they instead destroyed several houses.

Dozens of Magelang police officers remained on guard at the two villages to prevent further violence.