Two separate events rock Poso regency
Irvan NR and Ruslan Sangadji, The Jakarta Post, Palu/Poso
Central Sulawesi Police have been hunting down since Sunday snipers who shot dead a local man, Jhon Christian Tanalida, 37, a senior police officer said on Monday in Palu, the capital of Central Sulawesi.
Jhon was shot dead late on Saturday in Kawua subdistrict, Poso regency.
Central Sulawesi Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Sugianto said the police would do their best to capture the suspects in the shooting, in order to maintain security in the religiously divided town of Poso.
"We expect Poso residents to remain calm and not be provoked by the incident," he said on Monday.
Poso was rocked by sectarian violence in 2000, when almost 2,000 Muslims and Christians were killed in the unrest.
Clashes largely subsided last year, but sporadic attacks by unknown assailants have occurred until recently in Poso regency.
Agus explained that Tanalida was shot dead when he was about to tap nira (sap obtained by tapping a variety palm trees and used to make sugar) in his plantation, close to downtown Poso. He was shot in the chest.
The shooting occurred only few hours after the discovery of a low-explosive bomb in Maleali subdistrict, Parigi Moutong regency, Central Sulawesi. Parigi Moutong is some 100 kilometers north of Poso regency.
The bomb, which was found by a passerby on Saturday morning, was placed in front of a church in the subdistrict.
Following the two incidents, police in Central Sulawesi are now tightening up security measures there.
As of Monday, not only police and soldiers but also local residents were on high alert over possible random attacks and bomb explosions.
They were vigilant at some spots in Poso, inspecting every vehicle that passed along the street.
They checked ID cards of both public transportation and private car drivers and their passengers, some of them repeatedly shouting to the drivers and the passengers, "Kill them", "Hit them" or "Pull your car back."
The situation scared motorists, drivers and passengers and some passengers asked public transportation drivers to continue their journey only during the day and not at night.
"We'd better return to Poso and continue the trip tomorrow," Erik D.T., a passenger whispered to a public transportation driver.
Several bus companies such as Alugoro, New Armada and Jawa Indah prohibited their drivers from operating their vehicles at night, to avoid possible fatalities.
Tight security measures were not only adopted on Poso streets, but also evident on streets in Toboli subdistrict, the border area between Parigi Moutong and Poso regencies.
Poso Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdi Dharma calmed local residents on Monday, saying that they had to exercise self- restraint after the two incidents.
He said that currently 2,092 police personnel and some 1,300 TNI soldiers were on alert in Poso regency.