Two grenades found in housing complex

JAKARTA (JP): Duren Sawit Police detectives are currently quizzing five men after two live grenades and a smoke bomb were found in a community unit (RW) office in the Billy Moon housing complex, Pondok Kelapa, East Jakarta, where one of the five men normally resides.

Duren Sawit police subprecinct chief Comr. Listiyo Sigit identified the person who normally lived in the office where the grenades were found as Abdullah, alias Memeh, 34, a security guard in the housing complex.

The homemade grenades and the smoke bomb, which was produced by state munitions manufacturer PT Pindad, were found in the office of community unit (RW) 10, Pondok Kelapa.

"Residents of Billy Moon complex have long resented the activities of Abdullah and his friends, who spend their days getting drunk and extorting money from motorcycle taxi drivers. They are really sick of Abdullah and his friends," Listiyo told reporters on Wednesday.

According to Listiyo, the angry residents stormed the RW 10 secretariat at 12 p.m. on Wednesday and found four men very drunk there. Abdullah, however, was not present, the police officer said.

"The enraged residents, armed both with sharp and blunt weapons, attacked the four men viciously and beat them until they were rendered helpless. Meanwhile, other residents who were not involved in the fray contacted Duren Sawit police officers, who arrived at the scene and tried to calm the residents down."

Once the residents had been calmed, they informed the police that the men were also often involved in drugs.

The police then conducted a search during which the grenades and the smoke bomb were found in one of the cupboards in the office

Abdullah's friends were rushed to the hospital for medical treatment.

A hand grenade thrown by a passerby, who may have been traveling on foot or in a vehicle, exploded on Sunday evening under the Mampang Prapatan flyover in South Jakarta.

Last Wednesday, a hand grenade exploded under the Slipi flyover in West Jakarta. In this incident, one man eventually died of blast injuries.

Police have yet to link the grenades found on Wednesday in Duren Sawit to the flyover blasts.

Despite the blasts, the police have yet to put flyovers on their list of security priority areas.

On Tuesday evening, a small explosion at a minivan depot shocked residents of the Gudang Peluru Complex in South Jakarta.

Police later said that the explosion was caused by someone who had put firecrackers in an empty glass bottle. (ylt)