T

he Papua Police have withdrawn members of the Kelapa Dua Mobile Brigade (Brimob) Detachment III from Lanny Jaya regency to Jayapura following a clash with members of the Indonesian Military (TNI).

'€œTo calm the situation and prevent further trouble, the Brimob members have been removed to Jayapura,'€ said Papua Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. Pudjo Sulistyo in Jayapura on Thursday. The unit has been replaced with members of the Papua Brimob Unit.

The clash between members of the 756 Infantry Battalion and Kelapa Dua Brimob members assigned to Pirime, Lanny Jaya, in which battalion commander Lt. Ali Okta suffered wounds to his left thigh, occurred on Oct. 13.

Brimob personnel were conducting a search when a soldier traveling in a truck refused to be searched. A misunderstanding ensued, resulting in a firefight.

The decision to withdraw the Brimob members was taken after Papua Police chief Insp. Gen. Yotje Mende led a team to Pirime to investigate the clash.

The team consisted of high-ranking officers from the Papua Police headquarters alongside Cenderawasih Military Command'€™s intelligence assistant Lt. Col. Ihutma Sihombing, 172 Regiment chief Lt. Col. Rano Tilaar and 756 Infantry Battalion commander Lt. Col. Andi Parulian.

 '€œWe worked for two consecutive days on Tuesday and Wednesday and got statements from both sides, as well as from witnesses. We'€™ve inspected the scene and conducted an initial reconstruction, and concluded that the dispute between members of the 756 Infantry Battalion and Brimob Detachment III was due to misunderstanding and uncontrolled emotions,'€ said Pudjo.

He added that after a thorough inquiry, the combatant parties had forgiven each other, while the injured victims had received treatment at the Marthen Indey Hospital in Jayapura.

Pudjo said an in-depth investigation would be conducted by a joint team from the Papua Police headquarters and Cenderawasih Military Command involving a forensics lab for technical assistance, which, he said, was very much needed in the investigation.

Meanwhile, local officials assured reporters that the incident would not affect local people'€™s daily lives.

'€œI have held a meeting with community leaders and all agency working units and have reassured the public that the situation in Lanny Jaya is safe,'€ Lanny Jaya regency secretary Christian Sohilait told The Jakarta Post by phone from regency capital Tiom.

A separate clash occurred between TNI members and police officers on the Km 38 stretch of the Balikpapan-Samarinda highway in Kutai Kartanegara regency, East Kalimantan, on Tuesday evening.

'€œWe are still building the case. We will release details to the media about it soon,'€ said Mulawarman Military Command chief spokesman Col. Totok Surahmat on Wednesday.

He confirmed the involvement of TNI soldiers in the attack on the Samboja Traffic Police post.

The traffic police post is located on Km 38 stretch of the Balikpapan-Samarinda highway, close to a TNI cavalry base on the Km 28 stretch.

Prior to the incident, at 10 p.m. local time on Tuesday, police at the post were conducting routine checks on all passing vehicles.

Based on information gathered from local residents, the officers stopped a fuel tanker.

The driver was uncooperative toward police officers and a quarrel ensued.

Soon, scores of men on motorcycles approached the police post and assaulted brigadiers Bahri and Deni Wahyudi who were manning the post. They suffered facial and head wounds.