Korean, police mobbed by shoe sellers during raid

Multa Fidrus , The Jakarta Post , Tangerang Fri, 03/28/2008 City

Four police officers and a businessman said to be an owner of a factory producing Adidas shoes were mobbed by angry shoe traders and residents on Jl. Raya Serang, Cikupa district, Tangerang, on Thursday.

Romly, 55, an eye witness and one of the shoe traders said the businessman, identified only as Korean, and four plain-clothed officers arrived at the street where shoe vendors operate. The five men arrived in two cars followed by two trucks at about 10 a.m..

"They said they were conducting a raid to find fake Adidas products allegedly being sold along the street," said Romly.

He said the man and plain-clothed officers first searched Romly's store and seized hundreds of pairs of shoes, which were loaded onto the trucks and taken away.

At 2:30 p.m., the man and the officers returned and confiscated more shoes from several other stores. All the shoes were put onto the trucks as well, Romly said.

Some traders tried to prevent them from removing the shoes from their shops but after one of the officers shot a bullet as a warning, they backed off, eye witnesses told reporters.

The warning shot apparently invited a crowd to the location and Jaya, a local resident, talked to the truck driver who told him the shoes would be transported to Bekasi.

Jaya became suspicious because the officers had told traders they were from National Police headquarters, located in South Jakarta.

"I think if they were really National Police officers, they should have taken the shoes to their headquarters," Jaya said. He said he later shouted, telling the shoe traders these men could be fake officers.

Jaya's shout alerted residents and traders. The crowd immediately mobbed the businessman and the officers.

The angry mob beat the five in the face and held them hostage until officers from the Cikupa police subprecinct arrived.

Police officers arrived at the location, immediately rescued the five men from the crowd and took them to the Tangerang Police headquarters.

Tangerang Police chief Sr. Comr. Agus Andrianto confirmed the four officers were from the National Police but he refused to reveal their identities.

"It's true they are officers from the National Police but we have not been informed if they are assigned to hold raids against shoe traders in our jurisdiction," he said.