Jakarta – Dozens of unidentified men mobbed the Matraman Police station on Jl. Matraman Raya, Central Jakarta in the early hours of Saturday morning, hurling stones and flower pots at the office.

Eyewitnesses said that the attackers arrived at 1 a.m. on motorcycles and took on-duty police officers off guard.

The attack lasted only five minutes, shattering windows and wrecking computers and printers in one office, whilst damaging two parked cars and several motorcycles.

No injuries or fatalities were reported in the attack as the 15 on-duty policemen managed to avoid a frontal clash with the assailants by withdrawing to the upstairs part of the building.

"We've set up a team to investigate the incident and to track down the perpetrators," East Jakarta Police chief Sr. Comr. Hasanuddin told The Jakarta Post on Saturday. Eyewitnesses said that the attackers consisted of around 30 men who bore a resemblance to members of the military in terms of their haircuts and posture.

However, Hasanuddin said that the allegation to link the attackers with the military was premature. "They (the attackers) were only said to be sporting short-cropped hair and well-postured. They weren't wearing any (military) uniforms," he said.

However, Hasanuddin did not rule out the possibility that the attackers were from the military. "Maybe, (they were from the military), especially given that one day before the incident, two military officers were arrested," he said,

He said police had arrested two men allegedly involved in a street race on Jl. Pramuka Raya in front of the Hotel Central in Central Jakarta and had seized a motorcycle.

Police eventually released the two since they managed to show that they were military officers. However, the police confiscated the motorcycle since it lacked valid documentation.

Matraman Police chief Comr. Kasworo said that after the release, four men, claiming to be members of the Army's Strategic Reserve Command and friends of the previously arrested soldiers came to the police post to claim the motorcycle.

The duty police officer refused their demand since they failed to show the required documents, Kasworo said to tempointeraktif.com.

Kasworo said police might link the incident to the previous arrest since the attackers had shouted that they were looking for the police who had arrested their friends during the Saturday incident.

Kasworo said that the investigation of the incident was now being handled by a team from the East Jakarta police precinct. (dis)