Two people shot in West Java riot
Two people shot in West Java riot
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Mass rioting erupted when locals clashed with police in the
West Java town of Purwakarta on Thursday, leaving at least two
people shot and three vehicles, including two police cars, set
ablaze.
The melee also left the city's Jakarta-Bandung route paralyzed
for more than 12 hours as some 2,000 villagers fought with local
police at around 12:30 a.m. on the main highway at Plered just
outside of town.
All vehicles that arrived in Purwakarta from Bandung were
forced to divert to Padalarang, before heading towards Jakarta
via the Puncak route.
Cars from Jakarta, meanwhile, had to take the Subang-Lembang
route in order to get to Bandung.
Traffic jams worsened when the remains of the burned-out cars
were left smoldering on the highway.
The unrest was sparked by word of an extortion attempt against
women workers returning from abroad by a minibus driver and his
assistant who drove them home to Purwakarta.
One of the women, named as Neneng Rochyati -- a resident from
Panyindangan village in Cilalawi subdistrict, nine kilometers
south from the town -- then cried for help, prompting local
residents to run after the car.
They finally managed to seize the two suspects and handed one
of them, Sri Harno, to local police.
But later, a mob of angry people formed and demanded that the
man be handed back to them; the police refused to do so, however.
The agitated people then ran amok and set fire to the hired
minibus and two police cars.
The police later fired shots at the crowd, wounding two people
identified as Deden, 18, and Kajang, 12. The victims were being
treated for gunshot wounds at the Banyu Asih General Hospital in
Purwakarta on Thursday night.
"Police shoot without warning -- and this takes place even
after the mob retreats from their position," eyewitness Muhyidin
recalled.
Deputy Purwakarta Police Chief Adj. Comr. Syamsul Bachri
claimed his officers only fired rubber bullets in the incident;
residents, however, contested the assertion, saying they found
live ammunition on the ground.
By late afternoon, tensions still engulfed the small town as
local security personnel remained on high alert amid the severe
traffic jams that formed during the confrontation.
Police worked hard to calm the situation, along with local
community and Muslim leaders, who asked the rioting residents to
clear the streets.
Syamsul added that the two suspects were in police custody in
Purwakarta. He promised that the police would pay for the medical
expenses of the two injured people.
Local legislators, meanwhile, slammed the police for firing on
the crowd. "Such hasty shooting should be avoided -- this is the
second time in the last 30 days," said Husen Naji, a member of
the Purwakarta district legislative council.
In addition, he claimed to have shells of some of the live
bullets found at the scene.
Female migrant workers returning from overseas have in the
past been targeted by extortionists, starting from their very
arrival at the airport, until they return home.
The Ministry of Manpower and Transmigration has even set up a
special terminal at Jakarta's Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport for Indonesian workers departing or arriving from abroad
to stop extortion by customs officials.
Such measures in the past, however, have not always been so
effective.