Passerby dies in altercation

JAKARTA (JP): A cleaning service worker from the Ministry of Defense and Security was killed by a shot from an air rifle when he got caught in a clash involving residents of Manggarai, South Jakarta, early on Sunday morning.

Sutrisno, 40, was on his way home at about 1 a.m. when he was trapped between rival groups of residents stoning each other, his wife Nuraini said.

She said her husband tried to hastily walk through the area and was passing the Manggarai railway station when he was struck by an air rifle's bullet in his chest.

The shot was believed to have come from the residents, she said.

Several people rushed to help him and took him to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

Sutrisno reportedly died during the journey.

"I was told later that my husband passed away on the way to the hospital," Nuraini was quoted by Antara news agency as saying.

According to a worker at the hospital morgue, Syafei, the cause of Sutrisno's death had yet to be determined.

An autopsy conducted by forensic expert Siswandi stated that the cause of his death remained unclear, he told The Jakarta Post.

Syafei said the morgue received the body at about 3 a.m., two hours after the shooting reportedly took place.

Sutrisno's relatives claimed his body at about 5 a.m. for burial, he added.

A Manggarai resident, Suprayitno, said the recurrent clashes between two neighboring residential groups in Manggarai had persisted for years for obscure reasons.

Reconciliation efforts, such as going on picnics together, had failed to bring them together.

"All the efforts seem hopeless," he said.

During the clashes, he said, the residents had not only armed themselves with stones, but also carried sharp and blunt instruments such as arrows and wooden blocks. (jun)