Police yet to recover missing marijuana
Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan
Police have yet to locate 1.5 tons of marijuana that went missing and 61 prisoners who escaped after soldiers from Army Airborne Battalion/PS attacked the Langkat Police station on Sept. 27.
North Sumatra Police chief Insp. Gen. Ansyad Mbai said on Wednesday that so far the police had no clues as to who took the drugs.
"A joint military-police investigation team will unravel the case, including locating the missing 1.5 tons of marijuana and the prisoners from the Langkat Police station," Ansyad told The Jakarta Post.
He refused, however, to disclose if his personnel were encountering any difficulties in investigating the whereabouts of the drugs.
Two weeks ago, Binjai was rocked by a nine-hour gunfight between the Army's Airborne unit and police there.
The bloody incident took place when hundreds of Army soldiers attacked the Langkat Police station after police there refused a soldier's request to release a suspected drug dealer.
At least eight men, including two civilians, were killed in the incident, in which 1.5 tons of marijuana went missing and 61 prisoners, mostly suspected drug dealers, escaped.
Dozens of police and soldiers were also injured in the fight.
Following the incident, the Army discharged 28 soldiers and demoted four officers. Army leaders have also promised to bring those responsible to justice.
Bukit Barisan Military Command spokesman Lt. Col. Nurdin Sulistyo said that the Military Police were trying to recover the drugs and brushed aside allegations that the military had stolen the marijuana.
"The allegations are not true. We received reports that the marijuana had been stolen by civilians, but who? We have yet to find out," Nurdin told the Post.
He promised that the military would provide the police with any kind of assistance needed to recover the missing drugs and prisoners.
In a bid to investigate the incident, the Military Police also interrogated some 100 soldiers from the airborne unit.
Nurdin said that the soldiers were interrogated for their alleged role in provoking and participating in the clash with the police.
He said that the investigation may involve more soldiers as the airborne unit consists of about 700.
Meanwhile, in Jakarta, TNI chief Gen. Endriartono Sutarto said on Wednesday that there was a possibility that the bloody clash was provoked by a third party.
"We've found signs that a third party was involved, but we aren't sure yet," Endriartono said on the sidelines of a meeting discussing marine security.
He said that one of the soldiers who appeared active during the shooting was an Acehnese with a Javanese name.
"He had fake identity cards, including a birth certificate stating that he was Javanese," Endriartono said. "We suspect that he masterminded (the attack)."
But he said the soldier, whom he did not identify by name or rank, might have pretended to be Javanese out of fear that the Army would refuse to draft him if he was Acehnese.
He did not say if the soldier was still at large or in the custody of military police.
Endriartono also said that TNI was undecided on whether to disband Battalion 100, with the reasoning that the unit's good name had been tainted.
With no pride for their unit, soldiers could not perform at their best, he explained.