"Earlier, we saw them seemingly isolated incidents not related to the local elections but the continued violence followed by the recent felling of an electricity grid tower in the region has led us to see a similarity with incidents that happened during the Aceh conflict in the past," he said.
Djoko said the police were now still investigating the spate of shootings that targeted non-Acehnese people.
"We are clearly very concerned about the violent incidents in Aceh. Therefore, the cases must be handled and solved conclusively," he said.
Djoko said he did not know yet whether the incidents were organized or not. "We will hold a special meeting on the matter later," he said.
People in Aceh are to elect local leaders, including district heads and a provincial governor on February 16, 2012.
Aceh Governor Irwandi Yusuf meanwhile denied that the incidents were related to politics.
"After we did our own investigation, we have concluded they are not related to politics but more to economic problems and unemployment. We do not see any link with politics," he said.
He said there was a gap between indigenous people and newcomers from outside Aceh. "Indigenous people are jealous of the newcomers who are employed," he said here last week. (*)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
