Jim Della-Giacoma, Jakarta – At least three people have been killed and 154 detained in riots over rising prices directed mostly against shops run by Indonesia's minority Chinese, police and witnesses said on Saturday.
The worst damage was in the coastal town of Pamanukan on the heavily-populated island of Java, where dozens of buildings including shops, places of worship and doctors' surgeries were set on fire or damaged, the Suara Pembaruan newspaper.
Police said 154 people were being held for questioning on suspicion of looting and rioting in Pamanukan.
The newspaper quoted police as saying riots erupted on Friday in towns around Cirebon port on the north Java coast, after a man was shot in the head.
The 28-year-old victim of the shooting was identified only as Ata from the village of Cipeyuh, apparently the first confirmed death in the wave of unrest.
"We are examining who was the wrongdoer from the Lemahabang police station who fired the shot," Cirebon port police chief Colonel Sukandri was quoted as saying. He gave no details.
Suara Pembaruan named the two other victims as Tarmin, 22, from near Cirebon, and Amron from Brebes in neighbouring Central Java, but gave no further details.
Prices have soared in Indonesia because of the slump in the value of the rupiah currency and drought. Most of the shops attacked in recent weeks were owned by ethnic Chinese, who control much of the commerce across the sprawling archipelago of 200 million people and who are a traditional scapegoat during times of hardship. Chinese businesses have been accused of hoarding, which the government has declared a subversive act.
The official Antara news agency also reported a riot in North Sumatra, and a peaceful demonstration against rising prices in the southwest of Sulawesi island in eastern Indonesia.
Residents reached by phone in the West Java town of Jatiwangi said the streets were quiet as police and troops stood guard there after disturbances on Thursday and Friday. "There are a few small fires still burning, but people are now cleaning up. The town is secure, with police and soldiers guarding the streets. To my knowledge there were no victims, only property was damaged," a local businessman said.
In Losari, on the border of West and Central Java provinces, and in nearby Brebes, more than 60 shops were damaged by mobs, Suara Pembaruan newspaper said.
Antara news agency reported police were escorting public buses through the Tegal area in Central Java on Saturday after a bus was burnt and two cars damaged just after midnight. Police blamed the attack on "children" and said the problem was quickly controlled. Antara reported however that many shops on main roads were shut on Saturday.
Antara said security forces were also in control after rioters angered by rises in the price of vehicle spare parts stoned shops in Padang Sidempuan in North Sumatra on Friday. But a protest by about 1,000 people against price rises in the town of Bau-Bau in Southeast Sulawesi passed off without violence, it said.
Many Indonesians earn around only 4,500 rupiah (50 cents) a day if they can find work, and have keenly felt the impact of the worst economic crisis in decades.
In Jakarta, the national police have clamped an effective ban on mass rallies for the week before and week after the March 1-11 meeting of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), which is expected to reelect President Suharto for a seventh, five-year term.
Suharto, who has faced unprecedented calls to step down at the end of his current term over his handling of the economic crisis, has told the military and police to take a firm hand in dealing with unrest.