Police name six suspects in armed convoy case

Mataram (ANTARA) - The Mataram Municipal Police Resort in West Nusa Tenggara has named six people as suspects in a case involving a convoy of teenagers armed with sharp weapons along several roads in Mataram, four of whom are still minors.

Mataram Police Chief Senior Commissioner Hendro Purwoko told a press conference in Mataram on Tuesday that the two other suspects are adults.

The six are suspected of violating Article 307 of Law Number 1 of 2023 on the Criminal Code, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.

For the children in conflict with the law, investigators have also applied the provisions of Law Number 11 of 2012 on the Juvenile Criminal Justice System.

The two adult suspects are currently being detained at the Mataram Police Resort detention house, while three of the minors undergoing legal proceedings have been placed at the Central Lombok Class II Special Child Development Institution (LPKA).

In handling the case, police seized seven sharp weapons, two motorcycles, and one mobile phone.

Hendro said the convoy began after the teenagers felt challenged by an unknown person via social media.

That person, he said, claimed to be from the Karang Genteng area of Mataram. Feeling provoked, the teenagers gathered and staged a convoy along several roads in Mataram on Friday (11/9).

“They organised the convoy to answer the challenge from that unknown person,” he said.

Hendro said the 16 children were returned to their respective parents after questioning, as investigators found they did not know the precise purpose of the convoy.

“The children were returned after undergoing examination and interrogation by investigators,” he said.

“They joined the convoy without knowing exactly what it was for,” he explained.

Before being returned to their parents, the children were initially subject to mandatory reporting requirements, but this obligation has now been lifted.