The ammunition and GLM that were discovered on December 1, 2019 along with household garbage at the dumpsite belonged to the military and policeTimika, Papua (ANTARA) - Investigators from the Indonesian police and military in Mimika District, Papua Province, are still probing the mystery behind 60 bullets and two active grenade launcher modules (GLMs), found at a dumpsite in Iwaka Subdistrict. The ammunition and GLMs that were discovered on December 31, 2019 and January 1, 2020 along with household garbage at the dumpsite belonged to the military and police, Mimika Police Chief I Gusti Era Adhinata was quoted by ANTARA in Timika, the capital of Mimika District, Monday.
The joint team of investigators were attempting to trace the origins of the ammunition and GLMs and uncover the identity of the person or persons who could have taken them out of the weapon storage facility, he said, adding that the investigators had grilled several witnesses.
One of the witnesses who had been questioned was the driver of the garbage truck who might have carried the ammunition and GLMs along with the household waste, to the Iwaka dumpsite, he said.
The weaponry, packed in a plastic bag, was first discovered by Hendra, a 17-year-old operator of a backhoe at the dumpsite on December 31, 2019.
Hendra's colleague said the weaponry was carried by a Mimika District Government-owned garbage truck with license plate DS 9593 MA, according to Darjo.
Ten bullets were found on December 31, 2019 while 50 others along with two GLMs were discovered on January 1, 2020. The weaponry had been handed over to the Papua Police headquarters' Battalion B of Mobile Brigade Unit.
Meanwhile, the case of selling and purchasing 600 bullets involving three civilians is being handled by the Timika District Court's panel of judges while two army personnel who were involved in the case are being tried at a military tribunal in Jayapura.
Amid this case, the security situation in Papua remains vulnerable to the acts of deadly violence by notorious Papuan separatists.
The rebels were engaged in repeated exchanges of fire with the Indonesian military and police personnel. The rebels also launched deadly attacks on civilians over the past years and killed a number of them.
The Papua Police recorded that from early January to December 28, 2019, a total of 23 shooting and criminal cases involving the armed Papuan groups had claimed the lives of 10 members of the Indonesian police and military as well as 10 civilians.
The armed Papuan criminals committed such criminal acts in the administrative areas of the districts of Puncak Jaya, Jayawijaya, Mimika, and Paniai in 2019, Papua Police Chief Inspector General Paulus Waterpauw remarked on December 28, 2019.
Acknowledging this grim reality, Waterpauw's predecessor, Inspector General Rudolf A. Rodja, stated that security disturbances, fueled by the rebels, remain a tenacious challenge for Indonesia's security apparatuses in Papua.
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Translator: Evarianus S, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Gusti Nur Cahya Aryani
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
