Police question eight people over Bekasi incident
Police question eight people over Bekasi incident
JAKARTA (JP): Bekasi Police have questioned at least eight
people following the death of a resident of Kampung Jati, Tambun
subdistrict, on Friday.
Bekasi Police chief Lt. Col. Adjie Rustam Ramdja said on
Sunday the eight people included the widow of the 28-year-old
victim, Muryanto, whose body was found floating in the Kali
Malang river on Friday morning.
According to Adjie, the seven other people being questioned
were members of two groups involved in a dispute which was
followed by the burning of 70 semipermanent houses in the area on
Friday night.
"All of them were questioned as witnesses," Adjie insisted.
He refused to reveal any details of the eight people.
By Sunday evening, Adjie said, the situation had returned to
normal but police officers and soldiers were still guarding the
area.
The two groups also reached an agreement on Sunday afternoon
to live peacefully side by side.
The clash between the native residents of Kampung Jati and the
other group of people, who have moved to the area with their
families, was reportedly ignited by a dispute two days earlier
between some of the "newcomers" -- as the locals put them -- and
a native villager.
Fight
According to the Kompas daily, the men, calling themselves
Napitulu men, became involved in a fight with villager Muryanto,
28, who objected to the group forcing his child to give them
money.
Adjie said the two groups, with the help of the Tambun police,
agreed to settle the dispute on Thursday and promised not to
fight any more.
The peaceful atmosphere evaporated the next morning when the
villagers found Muryanto's body floating in the nearby river.
According to Muryanto's widow, her husband was picked up by a
group of Napitupulu men the previous evening who said they were
going to settle Wednesday's clash through traditional means.
After burying Muryanto's body, dozens of the villagers swarmed
around the semipermanent houses, believed to be owned by the
rival group, located along the Kali Malang river.
At about 8:30 p.m. the number of protesting villagers had
swelled to an estimated 1,000 people.
Four hundred riot police and military personnel dispatched to
the scene failed to assuage the locals' anger. A number of
warning shots were fired but these were ignored by the villagers
who also blocked fire engines from reaching the scene.
"During the incident, the villagers hurt nobody but only
damaged properties belonging to the Napitupulu group," said
officer Adjie.
No one has been questioned in connection with the burning of
the houses.
During the incident, one local villager, Bernarudin, 26,
suffered a gunshot wound.
After the signing of the agreement on Sunday at the local
village administration office, Tambun subdistrict head H.
Abdullah hoped the two groups would end their dispute forever.
Under the agreement signed yesterday, the locals also asked
the "newcomers" to stop gambling and selling alcohol in the area.
(jun/bsr)