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Police arrest 31 Nias youth for fear of clash
Batam Police arrested 31 young men â all of whom are from Nias Island in North Sumatra â in Batam, Riau Islands, for allegedly disturbing residents at the Taman Sejati housing complex in Batam Center, Batam, around dawn on Friday
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atam Police arrested 31 young men ' all of whom are from Nias Island in North Sumatra ' in Batam, Riau Islands, for allegedly disturbing residents at the Taman Sejati housing complex in Batam Center, Batam, around dawn on Friday.
The police confiscated wooden bats, an iron pipe and swords carried by the young men. 'Residents were suspicious of the unknown young men. We brought the men here to give them advice,' Batam Police chief Comr. Suherman said on Friday.
The police also invited a number of community leaders to help the police offer advice. The young men were also obliged to contact their families to pick them up from the police office.
Residents reported that the young men had been gathering at night near the housing complex's gate and disturbing residents returning home.
'The men came at around 10:30 p.m.. When we were about to sleep, we heard noises,' said neighborhood unit head Bambang, adding that group members had hurled stones and bottles at residents.
Residents reported the incident to the police on fears of a potential clash; allegedly, on Thursday, an individual from Nias Island was assaulted by unidentified individuals around the housing complex.
The police, however, denied such an incident took place, saying there was no report of an assault. In 2012, dozens of people were injured and two died in Batam during a brawl between a group of individuals from Flores in East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) and a community of ethnic Batak. The clash was caused by a dispute over land.
