T

housands of police and military personnel have been deployed to secure the North Sumatra provincial capital of Medan following a clash between members of youth organizations Ikatan Pemuda Karya (IPK) and Pemuda Pancasila (PP) on Saturday that claimed the lives of two people.

North Sumatra Police deputy chief Brig. Gen. Adhi Prawoto said 1,400 police officers and 450 Indonesian Military (TNI) personnel, as of Sunday, had been stationed at several locations in the city to anticipate possible further violence.

Such a measure, Adhi said, had to be taken to guarantee the safety of local residents and important sites across the city despite ongoing reconciliation efforts overseen by local authorities.

'€œWe have gathered leaders of the two organizations in a mediation meeting and asked them not to get involved in another brawl,'€ he said on Sunday. The deadly incident began on Saturday afternoon when a group of IPK members convoyed along Jl. MH Thamrin on their way to attend the inauguration of officials for the organization'€™s Medan Denai branch.

The convoy met a group of PP members and the encounter quickly escalated into a fight that reportedly developed into a larger brawl that lasted several hours.

Residents along the street and in surrounding neighborhoods were forced to lock down their houses and shops in order to stay safe.

Two people, identified as Roy Silaban and Monang Hutabarat, both IPK members, died and four others were severely injured when the fighting finally ended on Saturday evening.

On Sunday morning, another brawl almost broke out when hundreds of PP members attacked an IPK guard post on Jl. Putri Hijau. That incident, however, did not last long as hundreds of police personnel quickly arrived and secured the area.

Several hours later, members of the two organizations reportedly threw rocks at each other on Jl. Brigjen Katamso.

Separately, Medan Police chief Sr. Comr. Mardiaz Kusin Dwihananto said the police had arrested 14 PP members and seven IPK members following the brawl. He also promised that the police would investigate and immediately take action to settle the case.

'€œWe have questioned several witnesses and secured evidence from the brawl scene in order to trace the key offenders behind it,'€ he said. Established decades ago as affiliate organizations to Golkar, the ruling party during former president Soeharto'€™s administration, the IPK and PP, have engaged in a long-time rivalry in North Sumatra.

Members of the two organizations have repeatedly been involved in brawls triggered by various disputes, including those related to the management of parking lots or other personal reasons.

In April last year, IPK and PP members were involved in a brawl that injured at least two people and damaged a couple of PP guard posts in Deli Serdang regency.

PP'€™s North Sumatra chapter executive Kodrat Shah admitted that Saturday'€™s brawl was the biggest incident ever to happen between the two groups in the province, considering that the PP'€™s headquarters on Jl. MH Thamrin had also become the target of an attack by hundreds of IPK members.

'€œSuch [an attack] has never happened before. That'€™s why our members are furious that their headquarters has been attacked,'€ he said.

Kodrat also said that the organization would let the police investigate the case.

'€œThe brawl is done. We have asked the police to handle the case. We have also called on our members not to cause any more trouble,'€ he said.

According to its website, the IPK claims to have 13 provincial chapters, including in Jakarta, North Sumatra, Banten and Yogyakarta. The organization, whose headquarters are located in Medan, is currently led by Budi Panggabean, who replaced his uncle and organization founder Olo Panggabean following the latter'€™s death in 2009.

PP, meanwhile, is led by lawyer and politician Japto S. Soerjosoemarno.
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