Twenty people injured in Idul Fitri brawl

Twenty people injured in Idul Fitri brawl

PURBALINGGA, Central Java (JP): At least 20 people were
wounded, five of them from gunshots, when some 1,000 people from
two villages in Purbalingga regency, were involved in a fierce
brawl on Thursday, the sixth in the last two years.

At least five houses were totally destroyed and many others
were partially ravaged, and three shops were looted in the brutal
actions on the second day of Idul Fitri.

Purbalingga Police chief Supt. Sukamto Handoko said that
police had to disperse the crowd with gunshots when the looters
started to set ablaze the goods they stole from the shops and
ignored warning shots.

Sukamto confirmed that five people were shot in the leg.

Most of the residents involved in the brawl were villagers who
worked in Jakarta and were spending the Idul Fitri holidays at
home, said Sukamto.

The brawl was triggered by a heated argument between a group
of teenagers from Bantarbarang village and the porter of the
Jendral Sudirman Monument tourist site.

"It was on Wednesday when the five teenagers, without any
tickets, asked Rubito, the porter, to let them in. The teenagers
refused to buy entrance tickets and threatened to beat Rubito,"
officer Sukamto said, quoting Rubito.

Irritated, Rubito went home, asking some fellow villagers to
seek the five teenagers in the area. Fighting erupted, but local
security officers managed to separate them.

On Thursday, a large number of people from Karangjati marched
to Bantarbarang, where another group of hundreds of people were
waiting. They all carried sharp weapons to face their "enemies".

A brutal brawl erupted. Five houses were totally ravaged while
many others were partially destroyed.

Three platoons of Police's Mobile Brigade (Brimob) arrived
when the two groups of villagers were beating and stabbing each
other.

"They ignored the police's warning shots and kept fighting
until the officers fired shots at them directly, injuring five of
them," Sukamto said, adding that the mob dispersed soon after
five of them were shot.

Police records indicate that the two villages had developed
emnity two years ago, and five brawls have previously taken
place.

"As many as 81 people, all Bantarbarang residents, were
arrested. Most of them were villagers who worked in Jakarta and
were in their home towns to celebrate Idul Fitri," he said,
adding that 35 machetes, swords, axes and sickles were
confiscated from them.

"The people are now held at the Police Office hall under tight
security because the Police cell can only hold 50 people, while
there are now 60 people in the cell. How can we add another 81?"
(45/sur)