Police investigate arson at hotel

TANGERANG (JP): Tangerang Police questioned on Friday five people in relation to last week's arson attack on a hotel on the town's main street.

"The five are residents of Curug. We are merely gaining information from them, they have not been arrested," Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto said on Friday.

The witnesses were identified as Ahmadyani, 29, Djailani, 28, Slamet Bambang, 31, Dadang, 26, and Ihsan, 23.

Hundreds of Kadu Curug residents raided and set fire to Hotel Transoulindo on Jl. Raya Serang. They also assaulted the hotel owner, Wibisono, alias Chung.

The mob also stripped a female hotel employee and paraded her through the street. However, no arrests have been made. Nor have the police named any suspects.

Pudji urged residents not to take the law into their own hands.

"This is an act against public interest. What if you had a business and somebody else protested against it and burned it down?" he told a local Muslim clerics gathering here on Friday.

The incident started at about 2 p.m. last Saturday when a group of residents gathered at the hotel to demand that the hotel be closed down. The hotel had 53 guest rooms, 13 karaoke rooms and a restaurant. The mob denounced the hotel as "a place of immoral actions", saying it was a place of prostitution.

Tangerang mayoralty spokesman Slamet Putranto said the city administration canceled the hotel's business permit a year ago.

"But the regent did not execute the decision, and the hotel owner ended up suing the administration.

"The hotel won in court and continued its business," Slamet said on Friday.

Residents who want the hotel shut down then urged the administration to appeal the court's decision at the West Java High Court.

Some residents, however, regretted the fray. "The existence of hotels and amusement centers in this town could help reduce unemployment," Arie, a resident, said. (41/edt)