'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)