Man hijacks shuttle bus with fake bombs<\/p>\n
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Apparently inspired by some twisted Hollywood action movie, an
\nunemployed Indonesian, Eko Purwanto, hijacked a Damri shuttle bus
\nheading to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from Rawamangun
\nin East Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon.<\/p>\n
Eko stood in front of the 21 passengers, holding what appeared
\nto be three pipe bombs wired up to a cellular phone, as the bus
\npassed kilometer 24 of the harbor toll road near Pluit, North
\nJakarta, at around 2:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
He tried to rob the passengers asking them for their cell
\nphones, wallets, jewelry and other belongings or he would
\ndetonate the "bomb". He even claimed he was the real bomber of
\nthe JW Marriott hotel in South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
But bus driver Rianto managed to foil the robbery attempt by
\nstopping the bus right next to a police patrol car parked on the
\nside of the toll road and opened the rear door from a control
\nnear the driver's seat.<\/p>\n
Passengers rushed out frantically from the bus while one of
\nthem tried to break the bus' window to escape what he believed
\nwould be an imminent explosion.<\/p>\n
Four policemen in the car jumped into the bus and pointed
\ntheir guns at Eko.<\/p>\n
The policemen -- Second Adj. Insp. Suhada, Brig. Robin, Brig.
\nKarnadi and Brig. Sabar -- kept their distance from the would-be
\nphony pipe bomb robber, until he began screaming, "Don't shoot,
\nit's not a real bomb!"<\/p>\n
When they were assured that the bomb was just a ruse, they
\narrested him and took him down to Jakarta Police Headquarters for
\nquestioning.<\/p>\n
"I have been out of work for three months. I have no money to
\npay my rent of Rp 300,000 (US$35)," Eko told reporters at the
\nheadquarters.<\/p>\n
Eko spent Rp 10,000 to buy materials for the fake bombs at the
\nJatinegara market in East Jakarta. He rigged "the pipe bombs"
\nwith cables and a toy cell phone which was placed inside the
\npipes to give the impression that they were real bombs.<\/p>\n
Police said that his motive was purely robbery.<\/p>\n
Eko will be charged under Criminal Code articles 365 on
\nrobbery. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of nine
\nyears in prison.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/man-hijacks-shuttle-bus-with-fake-bombs-1447893297",
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