An evacuation team has been approved by the family of deceased Atanius Murib in which its 16 members are all civilians. They comprise local community members and the victim's relatives, Puncak Police Chief Adjunct Sen.Coms.Decky Saragih said on Sunday.
However, he had yet to be informed on the evacuation team's departure, he told ANTARA who contacted him from Jayapura, the capital of Papua Province.
Saragih said the victim's family did not involve local police officers in the evacuation mission for security reasons because armed Papuan criminal groups still operate in the area where the shooting incident occurred.
Atanius Murib died at the scene that could only be reached on foot by walking for about 15 hours from Ilaga Subdistrict, Puncak District, Papua Province.
This ill-fated senior high school student was shot dead by unidentified armed attackers along with another student, Manus Murib (16), but he survived the shooting incident.
Saragih said Manus Murib survived the shooting incident that occurred at about 06.00 a.m. local time after pretending to be dead. Prior to his evacuation to Timika, he told the police that he and Atanius Murib were attacked on their way to Agandume Subdistrict.
The two students were shot from a height inside a jungle between Agandume and Dume Subdistricts. Their attackers then went down to check the victims, and take a photo of them before leaving the crime scene, Saragih said.
After knowing that the attackers had left the area, Manus Murib told the police that he attempted to seek a help of residents of Jakimaki Village. A priest and several villagers carried Murib to the Ilaga health center to receive a medical care.
Deceased Atanius Murib would be evacuated by his family to be buried in his village, Saragih added.
The Indonesian province of Papua has continued to bear witness to a vicious cycle of violence, with armed Papuan criminal groups in the districts of Intan Jaya and Nduga targeting civilians and security personnel over the past few months.
Intan Jaya recorded its bloodiest month in September this year, with armed groups launching a series of attacks in the area that claimed the lives of two soldiers and two civilians and injured two others.
The notorious armed groups in the Indonesian province continued their acts of terror in October.
On October 9, 2020, for instance, an armed group ambushed a joint fact-finding team (TGPF) set up by the government to investigate a recent shooting in Mamba village, Sugapa sub-district.
In the incident, a TGPF member -- Gadjah Mada University (UGM) lecturer Bambang Purwoko -- was shot in the leg, while a TNI soldier — First Sgt Faisal Akbar of the Hitadipa Task Force — sustained injuries on the waist.
Related news: Student sustaining gunshot wound evacuated to Timika: police
Related news: Unidentified person shoots at two students in Papua's Puncak District
Translator: Evarukdijati, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2020
