Jakarta – The police have ordered two mass organizations, the hardline Islamic Defenders' Front (FPI) and the Indonesian Underground Society Movement (GMBI), to tone down tension after a series of clashes within the past two days.

FPI and GMBI had clashed in Bandung, West Java, after firebrand cleric Rizieq Shihab was questioned by police on Thursday (12/01). On early Friday morning, 150 FPI members in Ciampea, near Bogor, West Java, allegedly retaliated by burning a GMBI office.

"We call on the GMBI and the FPI not to take the law into their own hands, and not to be provoked by unconfirmed reports on social media," National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. Rikwanto said on Friday.

Reports said 150 FPI members from the Islamic boarding school Pondok Pesantren At-Taqwa in Cikampak, Bogor, had set fire to the GMBI office and a house in nearby Ciampea. "We have detained 20 [FPI members]. They said they were provoked by misleading information on social media," Rikwanto said.

Reports had spread on social media that an FPI member had been stabbed in Bandung and that several other members had been abducted, information which apparently precipitated the attack in Bogor.

"Unconfirmed reports on social media should be taken with a grain of salt, including the one that went viral on Friday morning. We hope people can help prevent future clashes by reporting criminal violations to the police so a legal action can be taken," Rikwanto added.

West Java Police have confirmed that the stabbing and abduction did not occur, though several fights were reported after the FPI-GMBI clash in Bandung. "There were no casualties in the Bogor attack, only damages to the GMBI office," Rikwanto said.

Source: http://jakartaglobe.id/news/police-urge-mass-organization-cool-tension-bogor-attack/