Banyuwangi – Police in Indonesia's East Java said on Wednesday there was mounting evidence that members of the military were involved in a mysterious murder spree that has claimed more than 100 lives.
But Indonesia's police chief said in Jakarta he believed the killings in the area around the town of Banyuwangi could have been masterminded by members of the banned communist party. "The indications are that the main instigators of the killings are members of the PKI (Indonesian Communist Party)," Lieutenant-General Roesmanhadi told reporters. "They are operating in groups and in an organised manner."
Black-clad killers have gone on the rampage in recent months around Banyuwangi, the main departure point for ferries to the holiday island of Bali. Many of the victims – mostly Moslem clerics or alleged practitioners of black magic – were chopped into pieces. The bodies of some victims were tied into bundles and dangled from trees, while others were thrown into mosques.
The Kompas newspaper on Wednesday said the death toll had reached 122, quoting local Moslem leaders. Local police put the number of deaths so far at 104. Banyuwangi police chief Ucu Kuspriadi said four members of the military were being questioned on suspicion of involvement in the wave of murders.
The town remained tense on Wednesday, with locals armed with knives and sickles patrolling roads into the area. Hundreds of supporters of opposition figurehead Megawati Sukarnoputri were arriving in the town on their way to a congress of her breakaway faction of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) that begins in Bali on Thursday. Most stayed in their cars and drove straight to the port.
Communists have frequently been used as bogey-men by Indonesia's ruling regime, with the government and military often accusing communists of being behind criticism or unrest. On Tuesday, Indonesian armed forces chief General Wiranto ordered police to take firm action to halt the killings. "I have ordered the police to stop the murders. We will go to the core of the problem, assessing whether these are purely criminal acts or whether there is some other motive involved," Wiranto told reporters in Jakarta.
No clear motive has emerged for the killings, although one senior military source has suggested they were a deliberate attempt to create tension between the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU), Indonesia's largest Moslem organisation, and supporters of Megawati.
Many of the dead have been NU members, and a senior NU official told Indonesia's private SCTV television he believed the killings had a political motive. "The killers are perpetrating criminal acts, but why do they attack NU members only? Therefore, I believe the killings have been driven by a political motive," Musthafa Zuhad Mughni said. An elite battalion of troops was sent to Banyuwangi at the weekend to try to halt the violence.