JAKARTA - A joint team from the Ministry of Forestry (Kemenhut) and the police ranks were involved in a shootout while intercepting a group of poachers who were suspected of frequently hunting protected animals in the Komodo National Park conservation area.
Head of the Regional Law Enforcement Agency (Gakkum) for Java, Bali and Nusa Tenggara, the Ministry of Manpower Aswin Bangun said that the Joint Team of the Gakkumhut Agency, the Police Intelligence Agency of the Police Intelligence Agency of the Police, the Police Intelligence Agency of the NTT Police, the Criminal Investigation Unit of the West Manggarai Police, and the Komodo TN Agency were involved in a shootout while trying to stop a group of poachers who were suspected of hunting protected animals, especially the Timor deer (Cervus timorensis), in the area.
"The perpetrator refused to stop and chose to fight by shooting at the team. We acted measured by giving warning shots to stop the resistance and prevent casualties," said Aswin as confirmed from Jakarta, Wednesday, quoted by Antara.
The series of events began on Sunday, December 14 at 02.30 WITA when the joint team found a wooden boat suspected of carrying poachers and their prey around Loh Serikaya, Komodo Island. When ambushed, the ship tried to flee outside the Komodo National Park area.
The joint team gave an oral warning through a loudspeaker, but the warning was ignored. At 02.33 WITA, the police personnel fired three warning shots into the air, which were answered by the group of perpetrators with three shots in the direction of the officer's boat.
Gun contact then occurred at around 03.45 WITA in the waters of the Sape Strait, Bima Regency, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Province. In this situation, the hunter group continued to fight and shoot at the joint team.
Because the perpetrators continued to carry out armed resistance, the joint team took measured action to stop the escape with the G1 Komodo ship disabling the speedboat carrying the group of hunters. The collision caused the perpetrator's ship to break and leak, until it sank.
From this operation, the joint team managed to secure three suspected hunters.
The joint team on Monday, December 15, returned to the Sape Strait to comb the crime scene and found evidence in the form of deer carcasses, machetes and homemade weapons and ammunition that sank during the incident.
The results of the initial statements from the arrested perpetrators revealed that the group of hunters was allegedly eight people, carrying four homemade weapons and a number of ammunition.
Meanwhile, five other people including the group's leader escaped by jumping from the ship and are currently being pursued.
Aswin said the hunting leader with the initials MS was a repeat offender with the same case and was known to be slippery in carrying out his actions and had long been the target of the Ministry of Finance's Gakkum Directorate General.
The Timor deer itself is a key animal and a protected animal that is in the Komodo National Park because it is the main source of food for komodo dragons (Varanus komodoensis) as well as a buffer for the balance of the savannah ecosystem.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
