'Preman' wounds marine member

'Preman' wounds marine member

JAKARTA (JP): Another soldier fell victim to a group of street thugs, as the authorities' recently declared nationwide "war" against the hoodlums, known locally as preman, continued yesterday.

First Private Bambang KH, a member of the Indonesian Marine Corps, was severely wounded after he was mobbed by four thugs in front of the Angkasa cinema, in Teluk Gong, Pejagalan, North Jakarta, Antara reported. The news agency did not say whether or not Bambang was wearing a military uniform.

The incident occurred when one of the hoodlums, identified as Baso, 23, refused to wait his turn in a long queue in front of the ticket office. Baso allegedly stormed out of the queue, walked up to the ticket counter, and angrily asking the ticket attendant to serve him first.

Bambang then approached Baso, advising him to behave himself. But his advice fell on deaf ears. Instead of obeying the soldier's order, Baso assaulted Bambang. But the thug soon found himself on the receiving end of the soldier's counter-attacks.

Baso then left the scene, but soon came back, accompanied by three friends. The four proceeded to attack Bambang. At the height of the ensuing fight, Baso stabbed Bambang in the right arm with a badik, a traditional dagger from South Sulawesi.

The soldier fell to the ground bleeding profusely and Baso and his friends hurriedly fled the scene.

Five hours latter police managed to arrest Baso and two of the other three assailants: Anwar, 25, and Samsudin, 22. The fourth preman, Ancu, 21, is still at large.

The incident came just a few days after a group of thugs attacked and killed one plainclothes policeman officer and wounded another near the busy Blok M shopping center in South Jakarta. It was those incidents which prompted police to launch Operation Cleansing, the aim of which is to rid the country of preman. (bas)