Six Perpetrators Of Brawl And Looting In Belawan Medan Arrested

MEDAN - Police arrested six people suspected of being the main perpetrators in a brawl and looting involving a group of people in Medan Belawan District, Medan City, North Sumatra.

Belawan Police Chief AKBP Muhammad Dayan, Thursday, said the identities of the six perpetrators respectively had the initials MS (17), K (17), RA (17), AP (17), AA (14), and BWB (31).

The police are still pursuing one person with the initials BS.

"The six people we arrested are perpetrators of attacks and looting of houses and shops belonging to residents who were damaged by the clashes," said AKBP Dayan, quoted by Antara, Thursday, July 22.

According to him, the clashes were not due to issues of ethnicity, religion, race, and intergroup (SARA) that had circulated. Instead, it was triggered by the mutual ridicule between residents that often occurred in the area.

The mockery led to clashes and attacks using Molotov cocktails which damaged a number of local residents' houses and church doors around the location of the brawl.

Not only that, a number of brawlers also looted a local resident's place of business.

"Regarding the issue of SARA circulating, I have come to the mosque and church there and explained that the SARA issue does not exist. The clashes that occurred were clashes that had been planned because of trivial problems of ridicule," said AKBP Dayan.

Previously, a brawl between residents in the Medan Belawan sub-district occurred on Wednesday, July 21 in the morning. Police said brawls often occur in the area.