Jayapura. An officer of a police elite unit charged with hunting down members of the outlawed separatist group Free Papua Movement was shot and killed while on patrol on Monday.
Papua Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Wachiyono said on Tuesday that First Brig. Agus Suhendra was shot in the head while his 16-man Mobile Brigade (Brimob) squad was making a sweep through Yambi village in Puncak Jaya district.
“The victim was shot from close range, or about 3.5 meters away,” Wachiyono said. “He was shot in the face and died instantly.”
He added that Agus’s squad failed to identify the gunman.
“The squad opted not to follow into the jungle because the difficult terrain would have made them prone to more ambushes,” he said.
Wachiyono said police had also investigated the site of the ambush but have not come up with evidence to identify the shooter.
Police say that the shooting was most likely a retaliatory attack for the fatal shooting of local separatist cell leader Werius Telenggen by police on May 17.
“We can’t say conclusively that this was the motive, but at this point the most obvious explanation is that the attackers were Werius’s followers,” he said.
Since January, two other Brimob officers have been shot dead by unknown assailants, and eight firearms have been stolen from the unit .
However, Papua Police Chief Insp. Gen. Bekto Suprapto said security in the restive district has improved since more Brimob units were deployed to the area.
The Puncak Jaya branch of the movement, also known as OPM, is headed by Goliath Tabuni. Since taking over the branch in 2004, Goliath has alledgedly split the group, which is estimated to have 300 members, into three wings and delegated leadership to the late Werius and Hengky Wonda.
Ambushes and shootings attributed to the group by police have targeted mainly security patrols. No one has been arrested for the attacks.
Speaking in support of OPM’s goals or raising its Morning Star flag are treasonable offences in Indonesia.