Vaudine England, Jakarta – A protest organiser who hired demonstrators to rail against fuel price rises became the target of the mob he had rented when he failed to pay them and they missed out on a free lunch.

The protest had been going well, with about 500 people, including mothers with children and unemployed men, carrying banners and shouting against the Government's imposition of a 12 per cent rise in fuel prices.

But the organiser, named by protesters and police as Heri Siregar, made a serious mistake. He had promised to pay each protester taking part in the demonstration on Monday at the national parliament complex 30,000 rupiah (HK$27) and give them a free lunch and water.

But he failed to deliver. "He left two hours ago saying he would come back with the money. But he hasn't reappeared," one distraught demonstrator, Ati, said. "We are hungry and thirsty and have no money to buy food and drink."

The result was mayhem. The crowd grabbed sticks and tools from Mr Siregar's parked van and attacked it. Some tore the doors off while others tried to set it alight. Police intervened, but the crowd only dispersed after one of Mr Siregar's men arrived to pay the protesters.

Protesters said they were hired by Mr Siregar and his group of recruiters from their homes in poor areas around Jakarta. They said they had little idea what they were protesting about and were only there for the money.

"It's better than sitting around doing nothing," one man said. "I'm only a scavenger, I need the money," said another. Several men stripped off to their underwear and cooled down in the large fountain in front of parliament.

"Some of the demonstrators replied with clueless smiles when asked if they were really at the [parliament] compound to protest the fuel hike," the Jakarta Post newspaper reported.

Student groups wanting to see former president Suharto convicted and jailed are probably the only demonstrators who are not paid to protest in Jakarta. The people seen demonstrating in support of former president Suharto last week said they were paid 20,000 rupiah for their pains, and had not even known which side they were on until reading the banners on the buses brought to ferry them to the barricades.