National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo condemned Sunday’s deadly shooting attack on a commercial plane in Puncak Jaya, Papua, and said an investigation of the case was still ongoing.
“Our personnel in Papua, in cooperation with the military are investigating the case. The investigation is led by the Puncak Jaya police chief,” Timur said on Monday on the sidelines of the Air Force anniversary at Halim Perdanakusuma Airport, East Jakarta, as quoted by tribunnews.com.
A Trigana Air plane, registration number of PK-YRF, and with five people on board came under fire when touching down at Mulia Airport, Puncak Jaya, on Sunday morning.
The shooting claimed the life of a passenger identified as Leiron Kogoya, 35, a journalist with the Papua Post of Nabire and injured the four others including the pilot and co-pilot.
Timur said he was still waiting for the investigation’s result and in the meantime he was committed to improving security in the area.
“We have deployed our personnel in some spots in Puncak Jaya especially in the Southern part of Freeport,” he said.
Leiron, who was covering the Puncak Jaya election, was the third fatality in a string of mysterious shooting incidents in the regency this year.
Kismarovit was shot dead on Jan. 20 and Sukarno, a member of the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) police unit, was ambushed on Jan. 28.
The shootings have haunted the regency since 2010, but the authorities have yet to catch any perpetrators.