One shot, five arrested in Senen market complex unrest

JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta Police shot one man and detained five others for looting at the Atrium Senen shopping center during unrest in the busy Senen market complex on Thursday evening, an officer said.

The incident, sparked by a heated argument between a street trader selling pornographic VCDs and a customer, also left two motorcycles burned.

Asst. Supt. Iza Fadri, deputy chief of the Central Jakarta Police precinct, said crowds gathered and when rough elements began looting, his men shot a man during the unrest.

"This man has been taken to a hospital but I don't know which hospital," Iza told The Jakarta Post.

The other five men, the officer added, were arrested and several wristwatches in their possession which they had just looted from a store at Atrium Senen were confiscated as evidence.

"We also seized a hammer which was believed to have been used to shatter the glass cases in the store," Iza said.

Until late in the evening, no hospitals in the area, including Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, could confirm admission of the wounded man.

"We received no injured person from the Senen unrest," a staffer at Cipto said.

At the scene, locals recalled that the incident began at around 5:30 p.m. after the unidentified VCD customer went back to the VCD seller to give the latter a lesson.

Witnesses said that the VCD trader with the help of fellow traders about 50 meters behind Atrium Senen beat the customer, who had reprimanded the seller over the price he offered.

"Upset, the trader shouted 'thief, thief' and the customer was then beaten by the other sellers," Udin, a witness, said.

The man left but came back with a group of his friends who took revenge, damaging the kiosks, witnesses said.

A few minutes later, the crowd grew bigger and tires and wooden planks were set ablaze on Jl. Gunung Sahari.

The elements of the mob then threw stones at the windows of Atrium Senen, forced their way in and began to steal the merchandise.

The incident lasted for more than an hour until police fired tear gas canisters into the crowd.

The unrest led locals to prohibit any vehicles from passing the street near the disturbance, causing heavy traffic congestion in nearby Pasar Baru area.

By 8 p.m., the traffic and the situation in the area had returned to normal.

Five police trucks were seen parked around Atrium Senen until late in the evening. (ylt/lup/07/bsr)