Thugs fight in W. Jakarta court
Evi Mariani, Jakarta
Two groups of thugs were involved in two separate brawls on Tuesday afternoon, leaving one dead and two others injured.
The first brawl took place at the West Jakarta District Court on Jl. S. Parman, and the second occurred on Jl. K.S. Tubun in Central Jakarta, creating heavy traffic congestion in the area.
The dead man was identified as Walter Buang, while the injured were identified as Saban and Caleb.
Police said the brawls were a continuation of a violent confrontation in March at Stadium Discotheque in West Jakarta, which left two people dead and four others injured.
Several men suspected of being involved in the violence at Stadium were to be tried at the district court on Tuesday, with a member of one of the gangs, Fredi, scheduled to testify.
Before the trial opened at 2 p.m., however, several men from a rival gang attacked two of Fredi's associates, Walter Buang and Saban, at the court building.
Witnesses described seeing the two men run out of the building covered in blood and collapse on the street in front of the court.
The attackers then threw the bleeding men into an Opel Blazer and fled, followed by a Nissan Terrano carrying more of the attackers.
Fredi's associates and officers from the West Jakarta Police immediately gave chase. Four policemen on two motorcycles stopped the Nissan Terrano on Jl. K.S. Tubun in front of Tresna Pangastuti Hospital.
The officers ordered the six passengers out of the vehicle and to produce their identification documents. At this point, a black van approached and stopped behind the Terrano.
Two men exited the van carrying a metal pipe and a knife. They approached the six men and hit one with the pipe and stabbed another, identified as Caleb, in the stomach. One of the police officers fired a shot into the air to regain control of the situation.
The two attackers ran back to their van and fled while four of the Terrano passengers ran off on foot. Local residents were able to catch the four men and handed them over to the police. The four, identified as Hendrik, Rahul, Irawan and Mastawu, are being detained at the West Jakarta Police station.
Police sent Caleb to Tresna Pangastuti Hospital and he was later transferred to Soekanto Police Hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta. His condition is unknown.
The police also reported that officers were able to stop the Opel Blazer and sent Buang and Saban to Pelni Hospital on Jl. K.S. Tubun, where Buang died from loss of blood from a deep gash to his neck.
The police declined to provide any details on the passengers of the Opel Blazer, so it is unclear whether any suspects were arrested.