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Jakarta Post

Dompu settling back to normal after clash

Security conditions in O’o village in Dompu, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), have settled back to normal on Wednesday after a clash between police and protesters broke out on Tuesday evening

Panca Nugraha (The Jakarta Post)
Mataram
Thu, July 14, 2011 Published on Jul. 14, 2011 Published on 2011-07-14T09:21:00+07:00

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S

ecurity conditions in O’o village in Dompu, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), have settled back to normal on Wednesday after a clash between police and protesters broke out on Tuesday evening.

“The situation has been peaceful and security officers deployed to the site have been withdrawn,” NTB Police spokesman Adj. Comr. R. Sudjoko Aman said on Wednesday.

The clash between police officers and protesters in O’o broke out after villagers demanded that the police relinquish custody of the body of Suryanto, a victim of an explosion at Umar bin Khatab Islamic Boarding School at Sanolo village in neighboring Bima regency.

Suryanto, who was also known as Firdaus, was an O’o resident and treasurer of the boarding school.

O’o villagers became hostile after receiving false information that Suryanto was shot dead by the police during an investigation of the explosion.

On Tuesday afternoon, the villagers blocked the only road connecting Dompu to Bima and rejected the police’s request to perform an autopsy on Suryanto’s body.

According to the police, Suryanto was killed by a homemade bomb that exploded on Monday as he attempted to show students how to make explosives at the boarding school. He reportedly died en route to the hospital.

The police recorded on Wednesday that at least three people were injured in the clash — namely Second Brig. Asrul, a member of the Dompu Police who suffered a head injury, and two civilians, Supriadi, 17, who was injured on the left side of his torso, and Rizal, 14, whose right hand was hurt.

The clash broke out at 5:30 p.m. local time when Dompu Police officers and members of the NTB Mobile Brigade tried to dismantle the residents’ road block. The melee ended at 11 p.m. after Suryanto’s body was returned to O’o.

Sudjoko believed faulty information about the cause of Suryanto’s death was spread by provocateurs who tried to ignite the already tense situation.

Members of a special team from the NTB Police, assisted by the Bima chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council, entered the Umar bin Khattab boarding school in Bima on Wednesday to investigate the explosion that killed Suryanto.

“Preliminary reports said that a number of other homemade bombs, arrows and sharp weapons were discovered at the boarding school. But the investigation was ongoing,” Sudjoko said. He added that the police had questioned dozens of people in connection with the explosion at the boarding school.

However, National Police spokesman Insp. Gen. Anton Bachrul Alam said in Jakarta that the police had arrested 13 suspects linked to the explosion.

Based on the NTB Police’s information, the Umar bin Khatab boarding school, which was established by cleric Abrori in 2003, housed Suryanto and 49 students, including Sa’ban Abdurrahman, who was being detained and questioned over allegations that he killed a police officer named Brig. Rokhmat on June 30.

Dompu Regent H. Bambang M. Yasin said in a statement released on Wednesday, that he urged residents to exercise self-restraint and not be easily provoked by someone who could endanger them.

Just let the police to do a thorough investigation on the case, Bambang said.

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