JAYAPURA: Members of an armed criminal group (KKB) set ablaze homes of a Papua tribal chief and teachers in Dambet Village, Beoga Sub-district, Puncak District, Papua Province, on Saturday.
“It is true that an arson was committed by KKB, but there were no fatalities,” Beoga Police Chief Inspector Dua Ali Akbar said.
Akbar confirmed that the group had set the fire at 9:30 Eastern Indonesian Standard Time (WIT), burning down the houses of tribal chief Ener Tinal and local teachers, as well as an elementary school building.
The Dambet tribe chief’s house that was set ablaze also functioned as a kiosk or a small shop.
“Meanwhile, the Dambek Elementary School building was not burned down since the local residents drove them away and managed to extinguish the fire, so that only the door was damaged,” he remarked.
The Newangkawi Task Force, a joint military and police team, has been deployed in Beoga to deal with armed criminal groups that have frequently terrorized citizens and the state apparatus.
They headed to the location where the arson occurred, and the criminals fired gunshots, but the military and police officers were safe.
Dambek Village is around three kilometers from the capital of Beoga and can only be reached on foot.
