Traders, thugs clash over 'security' fee

Traders, thugs clash over 'security' fee

INDONESIA: A group of thugs clashed with local traders in
Tavip market in Binjai, some 20 kilometers south of North Sumatra
capital Medan, on Saturday, leaving all the shops in town shut
for some seven hours. No fatalities were reported in the
incident.

Witnesses said the clash began on Saturday morning at 10 p.m.,
when several local thugs led by Untung, 29, demanded money from
several traders in the Tavip market. The money, they argued, was
"security fee."

The demand drew the ire of the traders, and one of the angry
traders eventually punched Untung in the face.

Having received the unexpected blow and outnumbered by the
traders, Untung and his gang went back to their homes in Limau
Sundai subdistrict, to round up more people and search for
weapons for their revenge attack.

Equipped with sharp weapons of various types, the reinforced
group of thugs stormed into the market and randomly destroyed
kiosk after kiosk, said Dido, a local resident in Binjai.

No fatalities were reported as the traders had closed their
shops and left the scene before the gangsters returned.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Bambang Waskito, the chief of Binjai police
precinct, said the situation was under the police's control by
Saturday afternoon. He claimed "all parties involved" in the case
were being held at the Binjai police headquarters for further
questioning. -- JP