On the dawn of Friday, 3 July 1964, a troop of Brawijaya 517 soldiers led by Tahi Bonar Simatupang under the orders of Brigadier General Suhario quickly swooped in the Bulungan Palace, kidnapping its aristocrat inhabitants while burning the rest of the palace grounds which lasted for 2 days and nights on Friday 24 July 1964. The kidnapees were later murdered, one Raja Muda Datu Mukemat in particular was reported to have been brought to sea between the islands of Tarakan and Bunyu, where he was shackled with stones as weight, shot dead and cast out into the sea.