Shops, car vandalized in South Jakarta brawl

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Dozens of shops at Pasar Rumput market in South Jakarta were vandalized, one car was set alight and several people were injured on Wednesday due to a brawl between rival gangs at the market.

No one was killed in the incident, no one had been detained, said the chief of detectives of South Jakarta Police, Adj. Comr. Merdisyam.

The situation was brought under control after the police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

The brawl, which occurred at noon, was a revenge attack for the murder of a member of the Menteng Tenggulun gang on Tuesday night at Pasar Rumput market, Merdisyam said.

The victim's colleagues believed that the man was killed by a sickle wielded by a member of the rival Menteng Rawa Jelawe gang.

After attending the burial, hundreds of members of the Menteng Tenggulun gang stormed the base of the rival gang, the Menteng Rawa Jelawe, at the back of the market.

Soon after, members of the two gangs began to hurl stones and glass bottles at one another, while others came armed with rifles and machetes.

The mob then set alight one vehicle parked in the parking lot of the market, and police fired tear gas to disperse the crowd.

"They were getting increasingly violent, we then fired tear gas to disperse them," Merdisyam said, adding that the case was still under investigation.

Brawls between rival gangs or groups of residents often occur in the city. The most infamous location for brawls is usually in the Matraman area in East Jakarta, where residents often engage in feuds over trivial matters.

The incident at Pasar Rumput market, is the first brawl in the city since the Lebaran festivities.