Riau councillor gets terror scare

Puji Santoso, Pekanbaru

Two unidentified men on a Yamaha RX-King motorcycle hurled a Molotov cocktail at the Jl. Sumatera official residence of Riau Legislative Council deputy speaker Djuharman Arifin at 2:15 a.m. on Thursday.

A security guard at the official residence of Zamzibar Nong, another deputy council speaker, which is located across from Djuharman's house but separated by Jl. Tembelan.

"I saw two men on a motorcycle stop on Jl. Tembelan behind the guard post of Djuharman's house at around 2 a.m. One of them appeared to read a text message on his cell phone. I became suspicious because they were taking so long. I wanted to ask them what they were doing, but they left before I went out," the security guard, Dharmansyah, said.

Minutes after, he added, the two men returned, this time stopping in front of Djuharman's house. "I then heard something drop and explode, and the motorcycle fled at high speed toward Jl. Sumatera," Dharmansyah said.

He ran to Djuharman's house to alert those there.

"I immediately ran to wake up the security guard there, but the gates were locked," said Dharmansyah.

The security guard quickly doused the flames threatening to engulf the councillor's official Corolla sedan.

The case is being investigated by Pekanbaru Police, said Djuharman of the National Mandate Party (PAN).

"The police came last night, but I will give them information today," he said.

He said the incident was believed to be linked to his political activities of the past few days. He declined to elaborate.

After the incident, the Riau legislative council officially requested protection for its members from Pekanbaru Police.