Two Arrested over District Head-Elect's House's Torching

Jakarta - Two people have been arrested in connection with the torching of the official residence of the district head-elect of Kotawaringin Barat, Central Kalimantan, on Thursday. "The two suspects' initials are S bin M aged 29 of Candi in Pangkalan Bun and GH bin GT aged 24 of Hilir, Pangakalan Bun," head of the National Police Headquarters public relations division Inspector General Saud Usman Nasution said here on Friday. "So far, 29 people have been questioned in connection with the incident," he said. People first gathered at one of the offices belonging to the former district head candidate pair Sugianto-Eko Sumarno in the 2010 district head election and after saying prayers they proceeded to the official residence of the district head-elect and then vandalized and torched it. Thereafter, they proceeded to the house of an election witness, MK, where they also vandalized and burned the house. The damage from the fires on the two houses was estimated at Rp3.5 billion. The supporters of Sugianto-Eko also took two cars from the district head elect's house to transport them. Saud said the police would continue investigating the case to find the mastermind. The torching was triggered by disappointment with the central government that had declared Ujang Iskandar and Bambang Purwanto as the winner in the district head election. The supporters of Sugianto Sabran ad Eko Soemarno started carrying out the demonstration on Wednesday and at 12:00 hours on Thursday they burned the official residence of the district head elect on Jalan Pangeran Antasari in Pangkalan Bun. (*)