Taufik starts fight: Police
Taufik starts fight: Police
Damar Harsanto and Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian Badminton star Taufik Hidayat, 22, was allegedly to
have provoked into a mass fight which pitted him and his father
against 20 people on a street section just outside the Bung Karno
Sports Compound in Central Jakarta, on Saturday.
City Police Detectives chief Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang said
on Sunday that his subordinates found that Taufik launched the
first punch and incited the fight.
The police report on Sunday appeared in contradiction with
Taufik's version filed earlier that he and father Aries Haris had
been attacked by a group of people.
"My subordinates have reported that Taufik punched them, which
led to the incident," Salempang said when contacted by The
Jakarta Post on Sunday.
He said that his subordinates also found new facts which
appeared to be at odds with the complaint filed by Taufik's
father Aries Haris to the police on Saturday.
"Taufik and his father reported that their car had been bumped
by a Panther minivan's rear end. But, my subordinates'
investigation found not one scratch on Taufik's car," he added.
Unfortunately, Taufik could not be reached to give any comment
regarding the incident.
In the complaint filed to police on Saturday, Taufik's father
said that the incident took place at 5 p.m. on Saturday at the
parking lot of Graha Pemuda outside the sports complex.
Taufik and his father was about to leave the compound when a
Panther minivan blocked their way.
Also in the report, the minivan then moved backward and bumped
on Taufik's car. Being infuriated by the incident, Aries went out
and yelled at the minivan's driver. Suddenly, the latter and some
passengers of a bus parked nearby got off and started assaulting
Aries.
Aries suffered bruises on his finger, hand, upper lip, back,
and right knee after being beaten and kicked by about 20 people.
They were identified as passengers of a bus with license
number BE 3492 AR and a blue Panther minivan BE 54 N. BE is the
area code for Lampung province.
Salempang said that police had yet to decide to follow up the
complaint.