T

he Jakarta Police have established a team to look into an incident where a number of Indonesian Navy personnel allegedly assaulted two policemen at the Bengkel Cafe in the Sudirman Central Business District (SCBD), South Jakarta.

Jakarta Police chief detective of general crimes Sr. Comr. Heru Pranoto said on Thursday that the investigation would also involve the police'€™s Internal Affairs Division and suggested that the Navy take similar measures to ensure the incident would not happen again.

On Feb. 5, two plainclothed police officers were assaulted by military personnel at the cafe.

According to Navy spokesperson Cmdr. Manahan Simorangkir, at the time of the incident the military personnel were on an joint raid lead by the Navy and involving the internal affairs personnel of the Air Force, Army and National Police.

In the raid, the Navy personnel entered a private room where there were five men and several women.

Manahan said the individuals refused to show their identity documents to the military personnel. He claimed that upon the personnel'€™s entry, one of the individuals who later turned out to be a police officer drew a gun and pointed at the Navy personnel. Manahan emphasized that the men had only identified themselves as police officers after they had been apprehended.

According to Manahan, the Navy personnel believed the policemen were under influence of drugs as they refused to take urine tests.

The National Police have denied both allegations, saying the policemen were on investigative duty and did not point any gun, nor were they under the influence of any substance.

Jakarta Police crime and violence unit member Comr. Teuku Arsya Khadafi and the National Police'€™s Comr. Budi Hermanto were allegedly assaulted by the Navy personnel. The police officers said they were handcuffed after a heated argument between the two sides.

Arsya and Budi were escorted to a military truck and the military personnel continued their raids of other places in Jakarta. Shortly after the incident, Arsya was admitted to Siloam Hospital in Semanggi, Central Jakarta, with severe injuries.

Arsya then filed a police report with the Jakarta Police, claiming that the Navy personnel had also taken his wallet and Bvlgari wedding ring in the incident.

National Police Commission (Kompolnas) commissioner Adrianus Meliala said on Thursday that the National Police could have been more assertive in protecting their officers.

Another commissioner, Logan Siagian, denied the police officers were in the cafe for leisure purposes.

Logan claimed the commissioners had seen the drug tests of the assaulted officers, which had come back negative and had been conducted by the police.

The Navy'€™s Manahan said on Sunday as quoted by Warta Kota newspaper that the raid had been taken forward on the orders of Indonesian Military (TNI) commander Gen. Moeldoko, in an effort to find personnel who were violating TNI rules. Manahan said the TNI and police had reached an agreement to close the case on Sunday.