4 Jakarta riot victims died of stab wounds: Police; 2 suspects arrested pledged support for ISIS

Tensions had increased after the election commission declared that incumbent Joko Widodo defeated Mr Prabowo Subianto with a 55.5 per cent share of the votes in the April 17 presidential election. PHOTO: REUTERS

JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Four of the six people who were killed during post-election protests that turned into a full-fledged riot on Wednesday (May 22) had sustained stab wounds, according to the Jakarta Police.

"Some died of stab wounds. There were four of them. Please don't twist this," Jakarta Police spokesman Argo Yuwono told reporters on Wednesday night as quoted by wartakota.tribunnews.com.

Argo also said that the police were currently checking the cause of death of the other two victims, and deepening their investigation into the three riots that erupted in Central Jakarta and West Jakarta.

Tensions had increased after the election commission declared on Tuesday that incumbent Joko Widodo defeated Mr Prabowo Subianto with a 55.5 per cent share of the votes in the April 17 presidential election.

Argo said that early on Wednesday, a group of people attacked a police dormitory in Petamburan, in West Jakarta.

"The group was not part of the (post-election) protesters. A lot of weapons were found there. We are still investigating the incident," Argo said.

It was earlier suspected that five of the rioters who died had been shot, even though the police claimed their officers were not carrying firearms.

"No live rounds; only tear gas," Argo said, adding that some police officers were also injured during the riots.

More than 300 were wounded in the two days of unrest.

As of Wednesday night, 257 suspects had been arrested. Envelopes stuffed with cash were seized, leading the authorities to believe the unrest was planned.

Two men detained by the police for rioting were part of a group that had pledged support to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group, and had intended to carry out attacks, Reuters quoted police as saying on Thursday.

"They intended to carry out jihad during May 21 and 22 protests," national police spokesman Muhammad Iqbal said of the two, adding that they belonged to a group called Garis, which had pledged support for ISIS.

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