Police attack military police office in Indramayu

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.