Violence in Papua: Brimob officer shot dead

Another man was shot dead in Papau on Saturday, at a time when the police have not been able to track down the perpetrators of the fatal shooting of Kisma Rofiq, 27, in Puncak Jaya on Jan. 20.

At about 8:55 a.m. First Brig. Sukarno, 33, of the Papua Mobile Brigade (Brimob) unit, was shot in the left temple by an unidentified man. He died instantly.

“The victim was with 12 Brimob members patrolling Wandenggobak village when he was suddenly shot in the head,” Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Wachyono said in Jayapura.

“Brimob, assisted by Indonesian Military [TNI] soldiers, is still hunting the perpetrators, [who are] believed to have ran into the jungle,” he said.

The body was rushed to a hospital in Mulia for a postmortem. At 4:15 p.m. the body was then flown by Trigana Air from Mulia to Jayapura.

The body was held at the Kotaraja Brimob headquarters in Jayapura before being flown to the victim’s hometown in Java on Sunday.

Saturday’s fatal shooting was the second to have occurred in Mulia this year.

In 2011, seven people were killed in conflicts in Mulia, up from six in 2010. No one has been captured or convicted over those killings.

The most recent spate of violence started with the fatal shooting of First Pvt. Yahya Kafiar, killed by unknown assailants while making a delivery on July 21, 2011.

Less than two weeks later, First Pvt. Fana Suhandi was killed during an exchange of gunfire with an armed group of civilians in Tingginambut on Aug. 2. This was followed by the killing of Mulia Police chief Adj. Comr. Dominggus Octavianus Awes, who was shot after his rifle was confiscated at Mulia airport.

Two Brimob members from Kelapa Dua in Jakarta, Second Brig. Feriyanto Kaluku and Second Brig. Eko Afriansyah, were shot dead by an armed group on Dec. 3, 2011.

— JP/Nethy Dharma Somba