Armed men break into Polish consul's house<\/p>\n
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post\/Bandung<\/p>\n
Posing as local administration employees, five robbers got away
\nwith jewelry and a luxury car from the residence of the Polish
\nhonorary consul on Friday.<\/p>\n
The robbers, armed with a pistol and a sword, locked honorary
\nconsul Mariola Budiman, her driver, three maids and a bread
\nseller separately in the kitchen and a bathroom before making
\ntheir getaway in her car.<\/p>\n
The driver, Sardi, said two of the robbers, who wore local
\nadministration uniforms, arrived at about 2 p.m. and said they
\nwanted to survey the land where the house stood on Jl. Bukit
\nPakar Utara, in upmarket Dago, some 20 kilometers north of
\ndowntown Bandung.<\/p>\n
\"The two men wearing uniforms were let in by Mrs. Mariola and
\n(housemaid) Yuyu. One of them headed toward the backyard, when
\nthe other took out a pistol and locked my employer and colleague
\nin the kitchen,\" Sardi said.<\/p>\n
The area is usually quiet, with only a few vehicles passing.<\/p>\n
Mariola's son goes to school in Australia, while her daughter
\nhad not arrived home from the local university when the robbery
\ntook place.<\/p>\n
Sardi said he, other maids Sri and Udin and the bread seller,
\nwho had come to the house to deliver bread, were forced into the
\nbathroom and had their hands bound.<\/p>\n
\"I only gave them the key to a motorcycle and its registration
\npapers, but they opted to take the car and left the motorcycle
\nuntouched,\" Sardi said.<\/p>\n
The driver said the robbers may have had a skeleton key to
\nstart Mariola's Toyota Harrier car, which bears license plate B
\n168 VM. The robbers also took Rp 18 million (US1,894) in cash.<\/p>\n
Mariola, whose area of responsibility covers West Java,
\nrefused to talk to the press.<\/p>\n
Polish Embassy deputy chief of mission Slawek Strazewski told
\nThe Jakarta Post later in the day that the embassy had asked the
\npolice to guard the house following the robbery.<\/p>\n
\"The people took everything from the house, a car, electronic
\ngoods and all her (Mariola) belongings,\" Strazewski said.<\/p>\n
He said the embassy would discuss security precautions for
\nPolish facilities and interests with the Indonesian foreign
\nminister.<\/p>\n
It is the second robbery involving government impostors in
\nless than two months. A gang of robbers wearing government
\nemployee uniforms stole on Feb. 14 Rp 40 million in cash from Sri
\nArtini Irfan, who lives in Cicendo.<\/p>\n
A construction worker, Andri, said two strangers on a
\nmotorcycle had asked him the address of a local resident one
\nnight.<\/p>\n
\"They asked me which one was house No. 68A. When I pointed out
\nthe house they just left the housing complex,\" Andi said, adding
\nthat a house located 50 meters from Mariola's residence had been
\nrobbed a few months earlier.<\/p>",
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