Jakarta – Looters will be shot on sight in the densely-populated Indonesian province of East Java on orders from the police chief there, press reports said Thursday.

"The order to shoot still has to follow existing procedure and only executed when warning shots were ignored," East Java Police Chief Major General M. Dayat was quoted as saying by the Kompas daily. "The bullets will not be rubber-coated bullets, but live ammunitions,' he added.

Soaring prices of essentials has sparked looting of rice mills, shops, rice fields, shrimp ponds, onion fields, teak forests and even rice trucks by mobs in several areas across the country. Such lootings have been most rampant in East Java where authorities are bringing 83 people to court for recent lootings in six districts there. "The number of the hungry is increasing as many employees were laid off. Certain group of people depend more on their muscle than brain, therefore their action tends to turn brutal," Dayat said.

Meanwhile East Java Governor Imam Utomo was quoted by Republika daily as saying: "I fully support security forces in handling (the looters) by shooting them on the spot." Utomo also said he believed the pillaging was provoked by former convicts.

Officials and economists have blamed speculators, corrupt officials, hoarders and smugglers for contributing to the shortage and high prices of essentials despite government assurances of adequate stocks.