PUBLIC ORDER AGENCY CHIEF CLAIMS HUNDREDS OF OFFICERS MISSING

Jakarta, April 17 (ANTARA) - Head of the Public Order Agency (Satpol PP) Hotman Sinambela said hundreds of his officers were still missing following the Tanjung Priok violence which broke out in April 14.

"I ask, if there are dead officers which are still unknown, please return them. Even it is only their heads, we will accept them," he said here, Saturday.

According to Hotman, of the total 1,750 officers sent to Koja, only around 877 returned by boats.

"Of 1,750 officers, 877 returned by boats. The rest is still unknown," he said.

"Koja area is very prone. Supposing, one can go inside, but not go out," he said.

Meanwhile, a Jakarta legislator asked about the whereabouts of the missing officers to Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo in a special plenary meeting on the Tanjung Priok case, Friday evening, but the governor failed to answer it.

The Tanjung Priok violence erupted on Wednesday morning when about a thousand public order officers (Satpol PP) marched to the graveyard complex where there is tomb of respected Muslim scholar, Habib Hasan bin Muhammnad Al Hadad, better known as Mbah Priok, who spread Islam in Jakarta in the 18th century.

The Priok violence caused 134 people to be hospitalized due to serious and light injuries. The victims consisted of 10 police officers, 69 public order officers, and 55 civilians.

Three public order officers identified as M. Tajudin, W. Soepono and Israel Jaya, were killed in the conflict between public order officers and local residents.

Besides the human casualties, 46 vehicles belonging to public order officers and the police had been burned in the clashes involving thousands of people resisting the eviction attempt at the revered tomb complex in Koja, North Jakarta.