Kediri, East Java – Eight police officers who allegedly beat an innocent man by mistake are under investigation in East Java, a police chief said on Wednesday.

"We have started to [legally] process them," said Adj. Sr. Comr. Kasero Menggolo, the police chief in Kediri, East Java, adding that they were being investigated by the bureau of Police Professionalism and Security Affairs (Propam).

The eight officers allegedly beat Mintoro on Sunday after breaking down the door to his house in a raid for narcotics. The officers, who believed Mintoro was hiding drugs, asked him to reveal his hiding place.

Shocked at their search, Mintoro asked the police to tell him the name of their suspect. The officers ignored his question, and one of them allegedly hit him in the face, knocking out two of his teeth. They also allegedly pointed a gun at Mintoro, who was still recovering after undergoing appendix surgery.

Mintoro's neighbors heard the chaos and called the neighborhood unit chief, who arrived and again asked the police who they were searching for.

The police said they were looking for a drug lord named Heru, whose house is 50 meters away from Mintoro's house. They realized they had the wrong man when Mintoro showed them his identity card.

Mintoro was hospitalized for two days at Bhayangkara Hospital. Kasero said the incident was a mistake, claiming another drug suspect had given the police "the wrong address" for Heru.

"We did a survey before the raid, and we did the raid according to standard operational procedures," the police chief said, adding that the police officers beat Mintoro because they were too enthusiastic about the prospect of arresting Heru.

Kasero, who apologized to Mintoro and the public, said the police would cover all the losses, including paying for Mintoro's medical treatment and repairs for his house. Mintoro said he had forgiven the officers but added that they should be charged.