The residents were celebrating harvest time and wanted to dance all night.
esidents of Lawele in Buton regency on Buton Island in Southeast Sulawesi went into a riot and burned a number of police vehicles early on Sunday morning after police forbade them from having a dance event after a harvest time celebration in the village.
The residents initially requested that the harvest celebration in Lawele be continued with an all-night dance event and live music, but the Buton Police rejected this request, kompas.com reported. Angry residents responded to the decision by throwing rocks at several police personnel.
Police personnel later shot tear gas toward the angry mob, who did not stop throwing rocks at the members of the force. As the police started retreating, the mob kept pushing on and later burned a patrol car as well as seven police motorcycles.
“We are still investigating the incident as well as the identity of the person who burned the vehicles,” Buton Police criminal division chief First Insp. Najamuddin said on Sunday, as quoted by kompas.com.
Apart from the vehicles, a member of Buton Police also sustained a head injury during the incident. (kuk/evi)
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