I Wayan Juniartha, Denpasar – The Karangasem Police in Bali named on Friday 21 people as suspects in Wednesday's attack and burning of the Rendang Police station that left four people injured, including a police officer.
Suspects in the attack, which was triggered by a police raid against a tajen (illegal cockfight) held at a temple in the area, are now being detained at Karangasem Police headquarters in Amlapura, some 70 kilometers east of Denpasar.
The numbers of suspects is expected to increase because the police are still questioning 15 other individuals.
"Whether we will name them – or some of them – as suspects will be determined upon the completion of the interrogation, probably tonight," Bali Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. AS Reniban said on Friday evening.
On Wednesday afternoon, dozens of police officers raided a tajen contest at Dalem temple in Menanga village, some 40 kilometers east of Denpasar. In the raid, the officers arrested four suspected organizers of the cockfight. The suspects were later transferred to Amlapura.
A few hours later, a wooden drum sounded, a traditional signal warning the villagers of an "emergency", and hundreds of people flocked to the streets. The mob was directed by several known gamblers to lay siege to the police station, demanding the release of their detained colleagues.
The Karangasem Police deployed two truckloads of riot police to reinforce the 15 officers at the station. But the reinforcement was stalled by a roadblock of burning tires and the hurling of stones by an angry mob on the road to the village.
The reinforcement officers repeatedly fired shots into the air to disperse the mob. Three villagers were injured in the shootings, apparently by ricocheted bullets. They were identified as Ketut Rawuh, 40, Made Artawan, 18, and I Ngurah Arnawa, 40. All of them were taken to a nearby hospital.
By that time, another mob of around 500 people had stormed into the station going after the outnumbered officers before burning half the building to the ground.
When the reinforcement officers finally arrived, the building was still on fire. The mob had also burned two police motorbikes and two Madsen sub-machine guns.
Bali Police chief Insp. Gen. Made Mangku Pastika cut short his inspection tour across Bali to visit the station. "I will stay in this precinct until the individuals responsible for the attack are arrested, "I have to spend the night here to give moral support to my officers and to show those gamblers that I am serious – that I will not let such an attack go unpunished."
Dozens of plainclothes detectives and 200 of the Mobile Brigade's troopers descended into the darkness that engulfed the village, searching for suspects. By 1 a.m., 10 suspects had been apprehended. Based on their statements, the police concluded that the attack was not a spontaneous one.
"Each of them had been tasked with a specific job prior to the attack. One suspect was responsible for buying kerosene, another for buying firewood and there was even a suspect who confessed to having been tasked with buying and distributing food among the protesters," said Pastika.
One of the injured villagers, I Ketut Rawuh, was discharged from hospital on Friday afternoon only to be escorted to the police station and named as a suspect. "We have him on video repeatedly hurling stones at the officers before a ricocheted bullet struck his right arm," AS Reniban said.