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Police probe home invasion, assault on Toba Samosir anti-graft activist
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Fighting corruption: Police personnel attempt to disperse Toba Youth Forum activists during an anti-graft protest held on March 9 in front of the Balige Prosecutors' Office in Toba Samosir, North Sumatra. In the early hours of March 8, Toba Youth Forum activist Mangatas Rudi Napitupulu was assaulted in front of his wife and children during a home invasion. (JP/Apriadi Gunawan)
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orth Sumatra's Toba Samosir Police have summoned several witnesses in their investigation into last week's assault on an anticorruption activist in Parmaksian district.
Activist Mangatas Rudi Napitupulu of the Toba Youth Forum was beaten by unidentified assailants in the early hours of Thursday, the day before he had planned to stage a rally to urge the Balige Prosecutors’ Office to investigate several corruption cases in Toba Samosir.
Toba Samosir Police spokesperson Second Insp. Bungaran Samosir confirmed that the police had yet to arrest the perpetrators, nor had they found sufficient evidence to name suspects in the case.
“We have questioned several witnesses, but none of the results have led to identifying the perpetrators of the assault,” Bungaran told The Jakarta Post on Monday. He said the police would make an arrest once they had gathered enough evidence.
(Read also: Anticorruption activist beaten in North Sumatra)
Bungaran said the police were focusing their investigation on identifying the individuals who had carried out the attack as well as the perpetrator that had planned it. “Our responsibility is to arrest the perpetrators. As to the alleged corruption cases, the [Balige] Prosecutors’ Office is handling the matter,” he said.
Mangatas was beaten in front of his wife and children when three unidentified assailants broke into their home in Parmaksian district, Toba Samosir, at 1:30 a.m. on March 8.
The incident occurred after two people, one of whom was reportedly the Parmaksian district head, failed to persuade the activist to drop his plans to stage an anti-graft rally at the Balige Prosecutors’ Office on Friday. (ebf)
