Jakarta – Police in Jakarta have shot dead 36 thugs and nabbed 682 others across the city in a month-long anti-hoodlum campaign, an official has said. The city administration has also arrested 20,946 public order offenders in the capital during the same period.

Deputy governor Abdul Khafi said on Wednesday that most of the thugs not proven guilty of committing crimes had been released, while some others were still awaiting for their cases to be dealt with by police. He said that among the 682 thugs arrested, 88 had been detained by West Jakarta police. Four of them had been released for lack of evidence.

He said West Jakarta police had shot dead two thugs. South Jakarta police had shot dead seven thugs and arrested 135 others, of whom 67 were released for lack of evidence, he said. Police in Central Jakarta shot dead three thugs and detained 83 others, of whom 40 have been released.

They also shot two other thugs, who are currently receiving treatment in hospital. North Jakarta police shot dead one person and arrested 59 others, of whom 10 have been released, while Jakarta police shot dead 23 thugs and arrested 277 others.

The 20,946 public order offenders arrested include beggars, pickpockets, street vendors, street singers, prostitutes, transvestites, street children and homeless people. Street vendors ranked first, with 7,791 people.

Mr Kahfi said many of those arrested had been sent to the city's social rehabilitation centre in Kedoya, West Jakarta. Children were sent to their parents and prostitutes were sent to a rehabilitation centre in Cipayung, East Java, while some others were sent to their hometowns. About 100 homeless people are to be sent to Sumatra to farm or work on plantations.