Hold my croc: Indonesian teen brings 'backup' to gang fight

Wrong place, wrong time? 

One student in an inter-school brawl accidentally brought in a rather unusual 'reinforcement' — a baby crocodile he had been tasked to take care of. 

The altercation between the teens took place in Duren Sawit, East Jakarta last Sunday (Sept 18), reported Indonesian media outlet Warung Jurnalis. 

It also uploaded CCTV footage of the fight, as well as clips of the students getting rounded up by the police. 

As the group was herded into the station, the teen was seen carrying the small reptile in his arms. 

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The youths are believed to have traded insults on social media which escalated into the brawl.

The district's police commissioner, M Marbun, told The Jakarta Post on Monday that they took 11 people into custody. 

They were made to sign statements promising they would not get involved in any more fights. 

Confirming that a crocodile was present at the time of the incident, Marbun explained: "He did not expect that there would be a brawl with another school when he was taking the crocodile [home]." 

The reptile actually belongs to the teen's school, which specialises in animal care education, Coconuts Jakarta reported. 

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Thankfully, the croc was merely a bystander as its guardian took part in the fight. 

Police eventually confiscated the animal and handed it over to the East Jakarta Environment Agency. 

This isn't the first time that crocodiles in Indonesia have 'participated' in human activities.

Last September, a metre-long crocodile popped by a vaccination centre in Tuban, East Java, terrifying locals who were there to receive their Covid-19 jabs. 

Some brave locals climbed into the sewage drain to subdue and tie the creature up.

It was later revealed that the crocodile belonged to a 15-year-old boy, who reported that his pet had done missing a week before the incident. 

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claudiatan@asiaone.com