Three detectives killed as 'ninjas'

JAKARTA (JP): Three Surabaya police precinct detectives were killed on Saturday by an angry mob in Bangkalan on the island of Madura after a criminal they were chasing shouted "ninja killers" at them.

The three were named as Second Sgt. Yunus Paribong, Second Sgt. Hadiri and Second Sgt. M. Dahlan.

Antara reported that the incident occurred when M.S., a man wanted in connection with receiving stolen goods, attempted to evade capture by shouting "ninjas" at five detectives (including the three victims) chasing after him in the village of Kajuanak in Bangkalan.

Villagers gripped by fear of "ninjas" emerged from their houses, captured Yunus and beat him to death while the other four escaped, two of whom hid in the immediate area.

On Sunday, when Hadiri and Dahlan emerged from their hiding place and tried to convince residents that they were policemen, they too were beaten to death. The angry mob also set fire to a car belonging to the policemen.

It was reported that the five detectives were in the village with a suspected motorcycle thief, identified as A.L., who had agreed to take them to the person who allegedly bought motorcycles that he stole.

Both suspected criminals escaped.

East Java Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Alfian Anwari, who fetched the bodies from Bangkalan, called on the local people and Moslem leaders to help police investigate the murder.

The three will be buried in the heroes' cemetery in Surabaya because they were killed in the line of duty, he added.

Meanwhile, another angry mob in Purwokerto, Central Java, attacked and seriously injured two people they suspected of being "ninja killers".

Let. Col. Agus Sudharto, chief of the Banyumas police precinct, said the two, 44-year-old Toto and 23-year-old Pratiknyo, suffered serious injuries and are now being treated in a public health center in Banyumas.

He said he regretted the attack because the two were not "ninjas". The two were in Karang Kemiri village making preparations for a cross-country run for Purwokerto businessmen.

"The two were beaten because they failed to show their identity cards to the angry mob and because they said they came from Surabaya in East Java," he said.

Police arrived in time to save the two men from death and took them to the relative safety of Pakuncen district police precinct. The mob then directed their anger at the police, pelting the building with stones after police refused to hand the two men over.

The station's doors and windows were damaged in the attack.

A mysterious murder spree started over three months ago in the East Java regency of Banyuwangi. More than 150 Moslem preachers and alleged sorcerers have since been sadistically killed. The killers have been branded "ninjas" because they wear masks and dark clothing in the fashion of Japanese assassins.

The murders have spread to various other areas, including Central Java. Local vigilantes have more recently started a wave of reprisals against suspected "ninja killers", lynching a number of people on very little evidence of guilt.

Maj. Gen. Tyasno Sudarto, chief of the Diponegoro Military Command overseeing Central Java and Yogyakarta, confirmed on Saturday that neither the government nor the security authorities had given an order to shoot captured "ninjas" on the spot.

"If any individuals suspected of being 'ninjas' are captured, they should be handed over to the security authorities," he said in the Central Java capital of Semarang. (45/rms)