Stern warning for shooting cops

BANDUNG, West Java: The police promised to punish any officers who misuse their firearms.

"Each officer has to account for every single bullet he fires," spokesman for the West Java police command, Lt. Col. Istanto J., told journalists.

Istanto was responding to reports that an off-duty officer accidentally shot and badly wounded a driver of a taxied motorcycle in Cilegon, about 180 kilometers west of Jakarta, on Sunday.

Police said the officer, whose identity is being withheld, accidentally pulled the trigger when he was adjusting the position of the gun he had hidden under his civilian shirt. The victim, Rivai, 40, has been hospitalized with bullet wounds to his forehead. (pan)