Police arrest students, seize weapons

MAKASSAR, South Sulawesi: Tamalate Police arrested 10 students and seized a illegal weapons in a boarding-house raid in Makassar on Thursday.

The students, from the University of Makassar and Muhammadiyah University, are currently in police detention.

Police seized a pistol, a gun cleaning kit, machetes, daggers, arrows and several bow weapons.

The raid followed reports from local residents, Makassar Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Totok Listiarto said Thursday.

"We had been monitoring them after a recent student clash at the University of Makassar to stop more conflict," he said.

"We immediately launched a raid when local residents filed a report and we later found the weapons,"

Two students will be declared suspects for allegedly storing and possessing the weapons; the remaining eight students will be questioned on potential involvement in the case, Totok said.

Five of the students from Muhammdiyah University said they were not involved with the weapons-possession case or the earlier clash.

"We rent rooms in the same boarding house. We have nothing to do with the gun or the weapons," one student said. - JP