Bendera threat – police not taking chances

KUCHING: The police here are beefing up public order and security in the event  there  is  chaos today following the threat from Indonesia’s Vigilante People’s Democratic Defence (Bendera) to invade Kuching.Kuching district police chief  ACP  Wong Wai Loong said yesterday General Operations Force personnel had been stationed at all check points while the police in the city would be on their toes for any eventuality.

“So far, we’ve not received any confirmation on any attack, but we’ve beefed  up  our  surveillance and security,” he told reporters here.

Wong said those with information about Bendera members and activities should inform the police immediately, adding that he could not comment more on the matter as it  was beyond his authority.

It was reported recently that  about  300  Indonesians trained in black magic would be invading Malaysian  towns in Borneo today.

Bendera is led by Adian Napitupulu, a former student activist who had organised mass street protests against  Suharto, the former Indonesian president,  which  led  to the latter’s ouster in 1998.

He was quoted  by Sunday Star as saying: “From Pontianak (in Kalimantan)  we  will cross to Kuching (in Sarawak) and capture it.

“And then we will go to the next town. And from Nunukan (in Kalimantan) we will cross to the next town … I don’t know the name. But it is the town that we are going to capture.”

On Sept 8, Bendera members set  up  roadblocks at Menteng in central Jakarta and checked the identity cards of passers-by to screen for Malaysians, but their action was stopped by the police after half an hour.

On Tuesday, the Indonesian Consul in Sarawak, Rafail Lalangitan was r eportedly advising the people to ignore Bendera as the group was illegal and therefore, did not receive the support of the right-thinking citizens of Indonesia.