Indonesian security officers claim ghosts haunt election material warehouse

Sidoarjo Police chief Sr. Comr. Himawan Bayu Aji (left) and members of Sidoarjo General Elections Commission inspect a logistics warehouse in East Java on June 20. (ANTARA/Umarul Faruq)

Security personnel assigned to guard election material in Boyolali, Central Java, claimed that interference from ghostly beings was making their jobs scary.

“Every night, we hear sounds of furniture being moved as well as people crying and laughing in the warehouse,” Boyolali Police officer Second Brig. Wahyu Setiawan said on Sunday.

The suspicious sounds, he added, also came from outside the warehouse, which was built on a plot of land that used to be a public cemetery, as stated by local residents.

One of the scariest moments occurred on Thursday when guards heard the sound of children playing and laughing. When security personnel checked on the source of the sound near the toilets, it suddenly stopped.

“It scares us, especially if we’re here guarding alone. Such sounds prompt guards to go to the toilet together,” said Tri Darmadi, a security guard assigned by the Boyolali Elections Commission.

The ghostly experiences, however, do not stop them from guarding, among others, 1,645 ballot boxes.

The commission distributed the election material -- which includes ballot papers, boxes, voting booths, ink and other stationary -- for Central Java’s gubernatorial election to districts across the regency on Friday.

More than 27 million people across Central Java, around 770,000 of them are from Boyolali, are set to cast their votes on Wednesday.