20 students held for bus robbery

JAKARTA (JP): Police arrested 20 high school students on Saturday for robbery, following a tip from a street musician who witnessed the crime.

Police also seized machetes, sickles, knives, swords and screwdrivers from the suspects, who are accused of robbing the passengers of a Mayasari bus traveling on Jl. Suprapto in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta.

Kemayoran Police chief Adj. Comr. Herry Rudolf Nahak identified the suspects as students of a state high school and a state vocational high school on Jl. Boedi Oetomo in Central Jakarta.

The arrests were made possible by a tip from a street musician who saw the students threatening the passengers with sharp weapons, Herry said.

The officer said the suspects, some of whom were not wearing school uniforms, told police they boarded the bus at separate locations because bus drivers were often reluctant to stop for large groups of students.

Some of the suspects, Herry said, got on the Mayasari bus plying the Tanah Abang-Pulogadung route at the Galur bus stop, while others boarded at the Marjani stop, both within 200 meters of each other on Jl. Suprapto.

One of the bus passengers, Ikhsan, a resident of Cakung, East Jakarta, said the students began the robbery as the bus was passing Yarsi University on Jl. Suprapto.

He said two students threatened the bus driver with a sickle and a knife, while other students, also armed with sharp weapons, began collecting the passengers' belongings.

"Fortunately, a street musician saw the incident when the bus stopped at the intersection to wait for the traffic light to turn green," he said.

The musician rushed to the nearby Cempaka Mas shopping center and reported the incident to a police officer.

Herry said some 20 Mobile Brigade police officers on duty at the shopping center then gave chase to the bus. He said a number of the suspects panicked when the police stopped the bus, and tried to hide their weapons beneath the seats.

"Searching their bags, we found several watches, cellular phones, wallets and jewelry," he said.

The officer declined to identify the street musician who alerted the police because of safety concerns. (01)