Police probe cause of mass mobbing

JAKARTA (JP): Police in the East Java cities of Surabaya and Gresik are still investigating an incident in Menganti district in which nine people were mobbed to death Thursday because they were suspected of trying to steal a motorcycle.

"We are investigating the case," Col. Amanuddin Zain, chief of the Surabaya Police Precinct, said yesterday.

The bloody incident began when Bibis villagers in the district caught Agus Effendy allegedly trying to steal a motorcycle Thursday night. Agus told the villagers he was with eight other people, who were waiting for him in a minibus.

Angered by a recent spate of motorcycle thefts, the villagers dragged Agus to a security post and tortured him to death. Hundreds of other villagers then sought Agus' friends and attacked them.

Agus died on the spot, while the other eight died on the way to the hospital. The mob set the vehicle on fire after they claimed to have found tools that could be used to steal motorcycles.

Col. Sudarto, chief of the Gresik Police Precinct, deplored the brutality.

"The villagers tried and punished the nine people themselves rather than handing them over to the police. Besides, there is no evidence yet that the nine people were a gang of thieves," Sudarto said.

He also said the tools could in fact have been planted by the villagers to create the impression that the nine were thieves.

He said nobody had been arrested for the incident, but that police had questioned four of the villagers.

Nono, a critically ill pedicab driver who was transported in the minibus from Surabaya to Bibis village before the incident took place, is an important witness in the case.

"We hope he will get better soon and so he can tell the true story about whether the nine victims (were actually thieves)," he said.

Chusnul Chotimah and Lardy, two lawyers representing the victims' families, said yesterday that they would sue the Bibis villagers.

Maj. Gen. Djoko Subroto, chief of the Brawijaya Military Command overseeing East Java, also deplored the incident, saying it would not have taken place had the villagers been able to restrain themselves. (rms)