Pickpocket-bus crew quarrel turns violent

JAKARTA (JP): The dispute between a pickpocket and the crew of a public transport company bus in the crowded Kampung Rambutan bus terminal in East Jakarta erupted into a heated inter-ethnic clash on Wednesday evening, leaving at least one man dead and several others injured.

The mob also burned and vandalized, among other things, two buses, two taxis, a number of street vendors handcarts, a tire repair service shop and several shelters normally used as recreation places for bus crews in the vicinity of the terminal.

The tension quickly spread to the city's other bus terminals, where the warring ethnic groups usually work together peacefully.

But as of last night no further clashes arising from the Kampung Rambutan incident were reported in other places.

The Kampung Rambutan incident however left hundreds of commuters heading to East Jakarta from various points in Central and West Jakarta stranded as no buses were available.

The electricity supply at the Kampung Rambutan terminal was turned off. At least four armored vehicles were seen at the terminal.

A source at the Cipto Mangunkusomo General Hospital identified the victim only as M. Flores Sihite, 23.

"His body, which arrived here at about 8 p.m., was covered in wounds. He might have been badly beaten by a mob," the source said.

According to Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis, the ethnic conflict was sparked by a minor incident the previous day at the terminal when an unknown pickpocket, identified only as Batak (an ethnic group of North Sumatra), was caught red- handed on a Mayasari bus by its crew.

Lubis did not specify the ethnic identity of the crew but security officers said that they were probably from West Java and Palembang in South Sumatera.

The pickpocket was then reportedly mobbed by some of the bus crew and the commotion was heard by the suspect's fellow Bataks in the terminal who rushed to the site in the company of a member of the Armed Forces (ABRI) to offer help.

Their arrival, however, transformed the incident into a serious brawl.

"At least two people, both friends of the pickpocket, received stab wounds during the clash," officer Lubis said.

He identified the two as Robert Panggabean, 25, and Jahidin Tampubolon, 23. They were rushed to the nearby Pasar Rebo Hospital but were discharged shortly after receiving treatment.

In the evening, a group of 75 Mayasari bus crew men thronged to a residential compound near the terminal, which then sparked a fresh dispute between the two parties, he said. (emf/jun/bsr)