Police foil lynching

JAKARTA (JP): Police officers stopped residents from burning an alleged thief alive after he had been mobbed for stealing cigarettes from a stall in Kramat Jati subdistrict, East Jakarta, early on Wednesday.

An officer at Kramat Jati police station said angry residents had doused gasoline over Kristiyanto, 32, whom they claimed to have caught red handed stealing from a stall belonging to Mamat, a local resident.

Mamat told police that he awoke at 4 a.m. upon hearing suspicious noises and was shocked to find a man attempting to steal several cartons of cigarettes from his stall.

Mamat then shouted for help, with the result that other residents emerged from their homes and immediately surrounded the alleged thief.

"The residents spontaneously beat him up, trampelled him and then doused him with gasoline," the officer said.

Fortunately, he added, police officers were on patrol nearby and managed to prevent Kristiyanto from being burned alive, later handing him over to Kramat Jati Police.(01)