Bandung, West Java (ANTARA News) - The chief of the army`s Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad), Lt Gen Pramono Edhie Wibowo, has admitted that five of his men were involved in a clash with civilians in Bogor on June 11.

The clash occurred following a dispute with villagers over the planned closure of an access road for the construction of a new hotel, he said here on Friday.

"Right now they are still being interrogated by the military police. Based on the initial results, some members were indeed indicated to have resorted to violence," he said when ANTARA contacted him for confirmation.

Met after attending a ceremony to mark the start of the construction of a rented flat of the army`s Infantry Battalion 330 he said he fully referred the case to the military police in terms of investigation and sanctions to be given to them.

The Siliwangi 3rd Military Command spokesman, Col. Benny Effendy, said earlier the five Kostrad members held are members of the Air Defense Artillery unit (Arhanud) and the military police.

The new hotel management says the access road to be closed belongs to the hotel.

Tension rose when representatives of villagers tried to meet with the hotel management to ask for the cancellation of the plan leading to the clash.

"The hotel management than asked for help from a number of military (TNI) members. Information that I got was that a villager had been hit. After the TNI members left the villagers returned to the hotel site," Cileungsi subdistrict head HE Sukirman said.

He admitted that the land where the access road used so far by local villagers lied belongs to the hotel.

"If the road is closed villagers indeed have to walk around which is longer to take. So far the road has not been closed," he said.(*)

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Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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