Police Investigate Stabbing of Dekai Hospital Worker, Say Suspected Armed-Group Link Is Unproven
A radiology worker at Dekai Regional Hospital was stabbed by two unidentified attackers in Yahukimo Regency on October 23, 2026. The 2026 Damai Cartenz Operation Task Force and Yahukimo Sub-regional Police are investigating the attack. The worker, identified as LM, 32, was in stable condition but remained under medical supervision, a task force spokesman said.
Attack during a power outage
LM, an honorary radiology worker, was sitting behind a kiosk in the Teachers' Housing Complex of Dekai State High School 1 when the assailants struck at about 7:30 p.m. Friday. The site, in Yahukimo Regency, Papua Mountains, was poorly lit during a power outage, according to the initial investigation.
The attackers used a sharp weapon, leaving stab wounds on the right side of LM's back and the left side of his abdomen. He tried to resist and shouted for help, prompting the assailants to flee. People nearby heard him and took him to Dekai Regional Hospital.
Speaking to reporters on October 24, Senior Superintendent Yusuf Sutejo, the task force's public relations chief, said a weapon resembling a short samurai sword without a hilt remained embedded in LM's back when he arrived at the emergency room. Yusuf said LM had received treatment and was stable, though doctors were continuing to monitor him.
Evidence collected and charges applied
Task force personnel and local police first went to the hospital to check on LM after receiving the report, then examined the attack site. They cordoned off and searched the area, collected witness accounts and secured a sharp weapon handle and a pair of sandals as possible evidence.
Investigators were using the witness accounts and evidence from the scene to reconstruct the attack and identify those responsible.
Kompas.com reported that police registered the case under Police Report No. LP/B/57/X/2026/SPKT/Polres Yahukimo/Polda Papua, dated October 23, 2026. Investigators applied a primary charge of premeditated serious assault under Article 469(1), read with Article 20(c), of Law No. 1 of 2023, the Criminal Code. It carries a maximum prison term of 12 years.
The subsidiary charge is serious assault under Article 468(1), read with Article 20(c), which carries a maximum sentence of eight years.
Police assess a possible armed-group connection
Yusuf said initial information about the attackers' characteristics and patterns led investigators to suspect a connection to KKB Kodap XVI Yahukimo, an armed criminal group led by Kopi Tua Heluka. He emphasized that the suspected affiliation had not been proven. Police and the task force were continuing their investigation to identify and apprehend the two attackers.
Heluka, also known as Penihas Heluka, received a 13-year prison sentence from the Wamena District Court in February 2024 for premeditated murder and public-order offenses, according to Beritasatu.com and detikSulsel. The offenses included the November 4, 2022, killing of Indonesian Army soldier Pratu Eka Johan Kaize, the shooting of Brigadier Usdar and the shooting of Brimob personnel in Dekai.
After serving about a year, Heluka escaped from Wamena Class IIB prison on February 25, 2025. He and six other inmates broke through the prison fence.
Earlier violence in Yahukimo
The Damai Cartenz Task Force reported 23 security disturbances in Yahukimo between January and mid-February 2026, compared with three during the same period in 2025. In response, it increased its personnel there from about 80 to 150 in January and to about 250 by February.
More recently, a civilian identified as A, 46, was killed in Dekai on October 11, 2026. Sindonews.com reported that the task force arrested two KKB members, AD, also known as YH, and EH, on Jalan Seradala in Yahukimo on October 13 in connection with the killing.
EH died at the scene during the arrest, while AD was taken to Dekai Regional Hospital. Both were described as members of KKB Kodap XVI Batalyon Yamue, led by Kopi Tua Heluka.