Jakarta – The Jakarta Police have confiscated an ambulance marked with a Gerindra Party logo after it was found filled with rocks instead of medical equipment and arrested three people during riots over President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's election victory in Sabang, Central Jakarta, early on Wednesday.
During the riots, protesters threw firecrackers and stones at police officers guarding several places in Central Jakarta.
Jakarta Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Argo Yuwono said on Thursday that the three who were arrested were named suspects.
The three are Yayan Hendrayana, 59; Iskandar Hamid, 70; and Obby Nugraha, 33. All of them work for Gerindra's Tasikmalaya branch in West Java. Gerindra is the party of Jokowi's challenger, Prabowo Subianto.
"They were ordered by the head of their party's branch to head for Jakarta," Argo told reporters on Thursday.
He said the ambulance was sent to help those who were injured in the riots. "However, we did not find any medical items inside the van. The suspects do not have medical qualifications," Argo said.
Argo identified Yayan as the driver, Iskandar as the secretary of the party's Tasikmalaya branch and Obby as the deputy secretary.
Cleaning workers were seen on Thursday afternoon struggling to clear riot hot spots in Central Jakarta from rocks.
"We have worked in shifts since morning but still haven't finished [clearing the area]. I don't know how many kilograms of rocks [were used by the rioters]," a cleaning worker said in Sarinah. (das)