Police attack military police office in Indramayu

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon

Dozens of police from Indramayu Police precinct in West Java pelted on Thursday the military police office in Indramayu to protest the arrest of First Insp. Jhonson, chief of Sliyeg Police subprecinct, announced a local military official.

Lt. Col. Soekir, chief of the military police in Cirebon, some 54 kilometers east of the town, said that the attack was carried out by 25 policemen to protest the arrests of the police chief along with two servicemen.

"The attackers showered the Indramayu military police office with stones and damaged a Kijang van and two motorcycles parked in the office's yard," he told The Jakarta Post here on Friday.

He said only two servicemen were on duty at the time of the attack.

Asked about the detainees, Soekir said Jhonson, Chief Brig. Rasya and Corp. Nuradi of Indramayu military subdistrict were arrested when Indramayu military police, along with the local office of state-owned Pertamina, cracked down on the widespread theft of fuel from Pertamina tankers in Balongan, near the town.

"The three were arrested when they were 'supervising' the pooling of stolen fuel in a location near the Balongan Depot," he said, adding that Jhonson was accompanied by his wife at the location.

The theft of fuel from tankers transporting fuel from the distribution depot to other towns in the province has occurred frequently since being backed by unauthorized servicemen and policemen.

Witnesses said the attackers left the damaged office after Comr. Dondit Sutresna, deputy chief of Indramayu Police precinct, fired two warning shots into the air.

Soekir said he had agreed with the police precinct chief to investigate the cases thoroughly.

"We are collecting eyewitness accounts, including two military policemen who were on duty during the attack," he said.

Separately, Dondit regretted the incident, which he said was triggered by the lack of coordination between the local police and the military.

"Both the arrest and the attack would not have happened if the military police office had coordinated effectively with the local police," he said, citing the police would launch an operation to halt the widespread theft of fuel from fuel tankers at the Balongan depot.