12 Soldiers Detained over Ciracas Police Station Attack: TNI

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Twelve army personnel have been detained at the Jakarta Military Command's Military Police Detachment (Pomdam Jaya) for their alleged involvements in an attack on Ciracas police station in East Jakarta on early Saturday (August 29).

The military police investigators would also investigate the alleged involvement of several other personnel in the assault, Indonesia's Army Chief of Staff General Andika Perkasa told journalists at the Army Headquarters on Sunday.

The 12 detainees might have involved in vandalizing several facilities at the police station, and 19 other soldiers had also been summoned and grilled, he said, adding that they would later be detained. 

"All personnel that we have summoned today will directly be detained. They will not only be sent to Pomdam Jaya in Guntur, South Jakarta, but also to several other military facilities, including the one in Gambir, Central Jakarta," Perkasa said.

Indonesian Military (TNI) Commander Air Marshal Hadi Tjahjanto revealed earlier that three of the 12 army personnel had admitted to having vandalized several vehicles during the early morning attack.

Speaking at a press conference, held at the Halim Perdanakusuma Air Force Base in East Jakarta, Tjahjanto who was accompanied by National Police Chief General Idham Azis, said the military police investigators had secured CCTV camera records.

They also found from Second Private MI's cellular phone that he had contacted 27 people.

Based on the second CCTV camera record, two motorists might have involved in vandalizing several facilities at the police station during the early morning assault, he said, adding that the preliminary findings would further be examined.

In response to this incident, Coordinating Political, Legal, and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD had demanded that the attack on the Ciracas police station be handled properly in accordance with existing laws.

He believed that the case could more easily be resolved due to closer relationship of the military and police chiefs.

Mahfud MD, however, appealed to the people at large, including those from the law enforcement agencies, to avoid acts of vigilantism.

On Saturday at around 01:45 a.m.local time, some 100 people attacked the Ciracas police station in East Jakarta causing several facilities there destroyed.

The attackers also set them ablaze at around 2 a.m. local time, according to the East Jakarta Fire Information Service. Several cars and carts parked on the street were reportedly damaged.

The attack was the second of its kind to have occurred since December 11, 2018, when a group of unidentified people also attacked the Ciracas police station.

Chief of the Public Relations Services of the Jakarta Metropolitan Police Commissioner Yusri Yunus stated that the police were yet probing possible links between the two incidents.

Read also: 3 Soldiers Admit Vandalizing Vehicles at Ciracas Police Station: TNI Commander

ANTARA