Angry mob blocks Trans Sumatra highway

JAKARTA. Hundreds of residents blocked the Trans Sumatra highway in South Tapanuli, demanding the police release 62 villagers who were arrested during a recent riot.

Residents of Tolang Jae and Sipange villages began to block the road, which connects Medan in North Sumatra and Padang in West Sumatra, on Tuesday at around 7 p.m. They finally ended the blockade on Wednesday at around 4 p.m. after the South Tapanuli Police came to an agreement with the protesters.

“Residents reopened the [Trans Sumatra] route after the police agreed to release the villagers, however, we will proceed with the legal process,” South Tapanuli police head Adj. Sr. Comr. Abdul Rizal Engahu told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

On Monday the 62 villagers were detained for allegedly attacking a Nias community in Adian Goti hamlet. The mob set fire to seven houses and a church. A Tolang Jae villager was injured during the incident.

According to Rizal, Tolang Jae and Sipange villagers were angry as the Nias people had allegedly cut down trees illegally even though the residents of the two villages had warned them not to do so. The Tolang Jae and Sipange residents said that the deforestation had caused flooding in their villages.