Authorities Arrest 8, Seize Hundreds of Ammunition in Papua

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Joint officers from the Police and Indonesian Army (TNI) arrested eight people and seized hundreds of ammunition, a homemade firearm, and a number of documents at a residence in Mimika, Papua, on Saturday.

Head of Papua Police's Public Relations, Sr. Comr. AM Kamal in Jayapura City said the arrest was part of the development of a case investigation for the arrest of someone with the initials RW on Monday, September 10. RW was arrested after being caught carrying 153 ammunitions at Moses Kilangin Airport.

“After [we] received information, officers in the field that were assisted by TNI officers immediately conducted a search at the headquarters of the West Papua National Committee or KNPB in the Timika region, and they found a number of evidence and eight people,” he said.

Kamal said that the evidence includes 5.56 caliber ammunition of 104 bullets, 11 revolver ammunition, one 7.62 bullet ammunition, 7 Molotov cocktails, and a sheet of Morning Star flag.

“There are also a number of documents, cell phones, hard drives, machetes, bows, arrows, axes, and spears. The initials of eight people suspected of being KNPB activists were TG, HW, HE, PN, EH, NA, JK, and YW,” he said. They had been secured to the Mimika Police, Papua, headquarters for further legal proceedings.

ANTARA