A Number Of Police Posts In Surabaya Burned By Masses

The police post in Bungkul Park, Surabaya, East Java was burned by the masses. ANTARA/Willi Irawan

A number of police posts in the city of Surabaya, East Java, were burned by the masses during a solidarity action for the late Affan Kurniawan which ended in chaos on Friday night.

Pantauan di lapangan, api terlihat membakar tent pos polisi di Jalan Raya Darmo yang tak jauh dari rumah dinas Kapolda Jatim dan Pangdam V/Brawijaya. Smoke black membuat tinggi dari lokasi kejadian.

Apart from Jalan Raya Darmo, the masses also damaged the post and burned the Taman Bungkul police, the police post on Jalan Basuki Rahmat, and the Tegalsari Police.

"When in the middle of the Darmo Surabaya Highway intersection, a number of people burned one of the police post tents," said Wawan, a trader near the scene, reported by ANTARA, Friday, August 29.

Until now the police are still trying to dispel the anarchist mob.

East Java Police Chief Inspector General Nanang Avianto said the riot in front of the Grahadi State building, Surabaya, Friday was not a reflection of the aspirations of the online motorcycle taxi community (ojol).

"Friends can compare with those at Grahadi and those now at the Regional Police. This is all ojol, pure, conducive. Nothing and we welcome it openly. We accommodate their aspirations," said Nanang.

The Kapolda assessed that the chaos around Grahadi caused a question mark, because the action led to the destruction of public facilities and damaged the symbol of greatness of East Java Province which had been jointly guarded.

"Don't let this ojol be discredited. It is proven now that what is done at the Regional Police is purely aspirational and takes place in an orderly manner. Meanwhile, those in Grahadi are different. We will investigate who the perpetrators are, because there are provincial symbols that must be maintained," he said.

Nanang emphasized that the authorities had tried to take persuasive steps before deploying tear gas. The security process, he said, was carried out according to standard operating procedures (SOP) ranging from sympathetic appeals, barricades, to water spraying.