Pecalang To Secure Bali's Christmas And New Years Eve Celebration

Denpasar, Bali, Dec 24 (Antara) - Traditional Balinese security guards (pecalang) will help the police to secure the Christmas and New Year`s Eve 2015 celebrations in villages in Bali. "We have also involved the pecalang. It is remarkable that in Bali, pecalang are involved in safeguarding each banjar (traditional hamlet)," Chief of Bali Provincial Police Command Inspector General Albertus Julius Benny Mokalu remarked here on Wednesday. Pecalang will join police officers and military personnel in the Operasi Lilin (Candle Operation), an operation to guard against security threats and traffic problems that could disrupt the Christmas and New Year`s Eve celebrations, which are expected to last until January 2, 2015. During the operation, the pecalang will also help to secure some tourism destinations across the region of Bali. Bali has 1,488 traditional villages, each of which has around 30 pecalang, while 736 administrative villages are supported by Babinkamtibmas, who are basically police officers that cooperate with the pecalang and are assigned to villages as advisors on security and public order. In the meantime, the Bali Provincial Police Command has deployed 3,684 police personnel to safeguard the Christmas and 2015 New Year`s Eve celebrations in Bali. The police will double its force at several vital locations such as churches, tourism destinations, and other crowded places in Bali. The police will also be deployed to safeguard some entry gates to the island such as in Gilimanuk Port of Jembrana District and Padangbai Port of Karangasem District to anticipate threats from terror attacks similar to the incident that took place on Monday night (Dec. 22). During a security operation in Banyuwangi, East Java, the National Police`s counterterrorism squad, Densus 88, arrested a terror suspect allegedly linked to the 2002`s Bali bomb attack. On Tuesday, District Police Chief Adjunct Senior Commissioner Tri Bisono Sumiharso confirmed the arrest of AM (44), a resident of Puri Brawijaya Permai housing estate in Kebalenan. AM, a resident of Banyuwangi, was arrested at around 7:30 p.m. local time and has been taken to the national police headquarter. Asmoro, the head of the housing estate neighborhood, revealed that the suspect was a businessman selling crackers made from fish skin. He has a wife and three children. He pointed out that AM lived with his in-laws in Penganjuran village, Banyuwangi. He was not a local resident but hailed from Semarang, Central Java, according to his identification card (ID).