Police nab six for Kebayoran Lama brawl

JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta Police Precinct has arrested six men for allegedly mobbing a local resident to death in Kebayoran Lama traditional market on Monday.

The police chief of detectives Comr. Napoleon Bonaparte identified the suspects as Tik (35), As (25), Su (41), Mis (29), Asf (22) and Aym (22).

Apart from the six, police also nabbed three others for possession of weapons.

Napoleon said the police suspected As and Tik of masterminding the attack, which claimed the life of Iwan Setiawan alias Acong, a resident of Jiban alley, and injured Yoppie, a chili vendor, Chandra, a tailor, and a youth identified only as Ms.

Yoppie is being treated at the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital in Central Jakarta, Chandra at Kramat Jati Hospital in East Jakarta, while Ms is in Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta.

Napoleon said Iwan died from slash wounds to his neck, right arm and stomach.

According to Napoleon, the clash brewed after an exchange of heated words when a man whose motorcycle with registration number B 4006 B injured a pedestrian on Kebon Mangga III alley on Sunday evening.

People near the site of the incident broke up the dispute, but the motorcyclist then escaped, leaving his vehicle there.

At around 11 p.m., a group of youths suddenly attacked some people in the area for reasons which are unclear, Napoleon added.

The brawl ended only after local neighborhood figures and administration officials intervened. The two disputing parties then agreed to reconcile and cooperate in finding the motorcycle rider and taking legal measures against him, said Napoleon.

But at around 3:30 a.m. on Monday, Iwan and some of his friends conducted an ID check on people passing Jl. Kangkung in Kebayoran Lama.

The move sparked anger among the people, and a further brawl broke out in which Iwan was killed.

Some witnesses said the clash was between people of different ethnic backgrounds. City Police Insp. Gen. Mulyono Sulaiman played down on Sunday the possibility of hatred escalating between the two ethnic groups following the brawl.

A source in the South Jakarta Police said the clash in Kebayoran Lama might be linked to a previous brawl in Tanah Abang in Central Jakarta, in which a man, identified as Asikin, was killed.

The source said Asikin, a Tanah Abang resident, used to hang out in Kebayoran Lama area.

A wave of ethnic riots has rocked the country over the past four years, claiming hundreds of lives as a result. (04)