A government official overseeing the management of the Batam Free Trade Zone (FTZ) said the recent clash between members of the Indonesian Military (TNI) and the Riau Islands Police'€™s Mobile Brigade (Brimob) had sparked concern among foreign investors.

'€œMany foreign investors are asking about this problem. They contacted me to ask whether this incident might become like what happened in Binjai [North Sumatra] or in OKU [Ogan Komering Ulu, South Sumatra],'€ he said, referring to previous clashes between members of the TNI and the police in North Sumatra and in South Sumatra that turned bloody. In March 2013 in South Sumatra, almost a hundred soldiers from a training center in Baturaja, Ogan Komering Ulu, South Sumatra, attacked police officers after the killing of a soldier.

Out of a concern for personal safety requested anonymity, the official said he was also concerned by the close proximity between military and police headquarters in Batam, Riau Islands, which he said created conditions conducive to a clash.

The TNI and the National Police continued to hold different accounts regarding the cause of the incident that resulted in the shooting of four TNI personnel from Battalion 134 Tuah Sakti in Batam.

Army chief of staff Gen. Gatot Nurmantyo has ordered 500 standard-issue rifles belonging to Tuah Sakti 134 battalion personnel to be returned to a warehouse to avoid the possibility of armed retaliation following the shooting, which injured four soldiers during a police raid of a fuel-smuggling operation in Batam.

'€œAs a precautionary measure, I have ordered them [the battalion] to pile up their rifles at the warehouse,'€ Gatot said on Tuesday.

Gatot added that the soldiers were shot at close range and that they were unarmed. '€œThe projectiles are in their bodies,'€ he said.

However, he declined to comment on the possibility that the shooting occurred only after the soldiers, allegedly caught in the act of smuggling fuel, had attempted to resist police.

'€œLet the joint investigation team finish its job first,'€ he said.

Gatot added that 134 out of 500 Battalion 134 personnel lived near the warehouse where the misappropriated fuel was allegedly stored.

He said that members of the TNI battalion went to Brimob headquarters on Sunday night to request the release of the soldiers who had been taken there in connection with the raid on the fuel heist, but that they were fired at upon arriving.

In Jakarta, TNI commander Gen. Moeldoko urged the National Police to administer just punishment to the Mobile Brigade [Brimob] officers found guilty of assaulting and shooting unarmed soldiers.

National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Ronny F. Sompie said on Tuesday that National Police chief Gen. Sutarman and TNI top brass had agreed to create a joint task force to investigate the Batam brawl.

'€œThey have decided to form a joint investigation team to look into the incident. Moreover, police and military officials, particularly those in Riau Islands, are paying close attention to the treatment and recovery of the injured officers,'€ he said.

He added that the investigation team was likely to issue recommendations to help the two forces avoid future clashes, but declined to say who would be on the team.

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