REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, KUPANG -- Police in West Manggarai district, East Nusa Tenggara province, have named 12 people as suspects for allegedly vandalizing the sub-district head's office and setting fire to ballot boxes last Friday night.

"As many as 32 people were detained and questioned in the wake of the incident and the police have named 12 of them as suspects," spokesman for the East Nusa Tenggara provincial police, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Jules Abraham Abbas, said here on Wednesday.

All the suspects are being held in custody at the West Manggarai district police station, he said.

One of the suspects is head of the Tentang village, identified by his initials as AS. He is strongly believed to have masterminded vandalism at the office of the sub-district head, he said.

He said 35 ballot boxes from polling stations were set afire.

Tens of people believed to be supporters of the West Manggarai district head candidate Maximus Gasa and his running mate, Abdul Aziz, set fire to the ballot boxes.

The incident took place after they urged the Ndoso sub-district election committee to stop the vote counting process, arguing that it violated the standing procedure.

However, the election committee rejected their request.

Investigators have probed the conduct of all the culprits, he said.

Simultaneous regional head elections were held in more than 260 regions in Indonesia on December 9.

If found guilty, the suspects may face up to seven years' imprisonment.

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