T

he chief editor of the Fokus Lampung weekly, Beni Faisal bin Zaenal Abidin, was shot dead by unidentified persons on Sunday evening at around 8:30 p.m. local time. Bandar Lampung Police operational division chief Comr. Fidelis Timuranto said the police were not able to disclose details of the incident yet as the crime scene was still being examined.

'€œAlthough the investigation is still ongoing, we are positive that the incident is purely criminal,'€ Fidelis said at the Abdoel Moeloek General Hospital morgue early on Monday.

Beni was found dead in a pool of blood in front of his house at Jl. Pulau Raya 3, No. 46 in the Waykadis housing complex in Tanjung Senang district, Bandar Lampung.

Neighbors, who were shocked to hear the gunshots, immediately went to the scene of the crime and took the victim to Abdoel Moeloek General Hospital.

Rohmat, 43, one of the neighbors, claimed he heard a loud bang that sounded similar to a firecracker.

'€œI did not see the perpetrators. I went to the victim'€™s house after hearing the bang. Some say he was shot by robbers, but his house is equipped with CCTV, so maybe we can get information from the CCTV footage,'€ said Rohmat.

The motive of the shooting remains unclear, but based on a number of eyewitnesses and police; Beni might have been shot by a gang of three robbers believed to have had the intention of stealing his motorbike, which was parked in front of the victim'€™s house.

Bandar Lampung Police Crimes and Intelligence Unit chief Comr. Dery Agung Wijaya and Kedaton Police chief Comr. Sukandar, who arrived at the scene of the crime minutes after the shooting, declined to give statements. Police gathered testimonies from a number of eyewitnesses.

'€œWe took the CCTV from the victim'€™s house. We will examine its contents to find out the motive behind the killing,'€ said Dery.

One neighbor who saw Beni sprawled out on the ground, Pariaman, also told police he heard a bang. '€œI only heard it once, then I left my house and saw Beni on the ground and covered in blood,'€ he said.

Neighborhood unit head M. Kabul, 44, also Beni'€™s neighbor, said that according to the victim'€™s wife, Beni saw three suspicious-looking people in front of their house on CCTV and went out of the house.

'€œAccording to the victim'€™s wife, the perpetrators rode on motorcycles. After spotting the victim outside his house, one of the perpetrators pointed a gun at the victim. Another perpetrator got off his motorcycle and approached the victim. After the victim collapsed, all of the perpetrators fled the scene on motorcycles, while the victim'€™s motorcycle was still in front of the house,'€ said Kabul.

Fokus Lampung was founded by a youth figure from the local chapter of the country'€™s largest Muslim organization, Nahdlatul Ulama, who was also a former Lampung Post journalist, Fajrun Najjah Ahmad. When Fajrun became secretary of the Democratic Party, he relinquished his position as Fokus Lampung chief editor to Beni.

The weekly is known for being critical toward government policies and public service institutions.