ding locals in the Sambikerep district of Surabaya, 640 km east of Jakarta set fire to a police station and shops on rumours that a man had died in police custody from torture. "The deployment of police was necessary in order to track down the mastermind behind Saturday‘s attack…we only used blanks," Surabaya police chief Colonel Alfian Anwari told reporters. He said there were no casualties in the raid. Police said that the man who died in custody was already in critical condition when he was brought in. There has been mounting unrest in recent weeks around the huge tropical archipelago, which is suffering its worst political and economic crisis for 30 years. The latest attacks have undermined hopes that the current Moslem fasting month would see at least a temporary break in the violence which has plagued the predominantly Moslem country for months. On Monday, thousands of workers demonstrated in Surabaya and in a satellite city of Jakarta, all demanding higher wages. During New Year celebrations, looting, religious unrest and arson attacks broke out in several areas. On the island of Sulawesi, an angry mob set fire to a supermarket in a remote district on Friday after rumours its Christian owner had offended Moslems by misusing a prayer mat. The bloodiest violence has been in the rebellious province of Aceh where about 18 people, including up to eight soldiers, have been killed in a week of rioting and military reprisals. Police said nine civilians were killed and 23 seriously injured in clashes between troops and separatist rebels.