Soldiers seize homemade M-16

SAMARINDA, East Kalimantan: Soldiers here seized a homemade rifle shaped like the U.S.-made M-16 and arrested a retired police officer and his accomplice, Antara reported yesterday.

Lt. Col. Sudjatmoko, the Bontang military commander, said the 47-year-old retired officer he refused to name claimed to have obtained the rifle from a friend.

The suspect told soldiers on patrol who caught him brandishing the rifle while riding a motorcycle with his friend that he used it for hunting.

Sudjatmoko said that when the suspect realized he was being followed he threw the rifle into a bush and sped away but the soldiers managed to catch up with him. (pan)