Alleged robbers of Tutut's home shot dead

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Police shot dead two men, one of whom was a soldier, on Thursday morning who were allegedly part of an armed gang that robbed the residence of Siti "Tutut" Hardijanti Rukmana in April 2002.

Tutut is the eldest daughter of former president Soeharto.

South Jakarta Police detectives' chief Comr. Kusdiyantoro claimed the two were killed in a shootout on Jl. Pangeran Antasari, South Jakarta.

"They might have realized that our detectives were coming to arrest them," he told reporters.

The men were identified as Dadang Saputro, alias Edi Londo, 36, a resident of Batu Ampar, Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, and Chief Pvt. Yudi Winanto, a resident of Jl. Lubang Buaya, East Jakarta.

Dadang was shot three times in the back, while Yudi was shot four times, also in the back. They died instantly at the scene.

The police recovered an FN 46 pistol, a revolver and six live bullets from the dead men.

The arrest attempt, Kusdiantoro said, was based on a tipoff from another gang member, Wawan, 28, who was arrested on Dec. 30. Police are still quizzing Wawan at the South Jakarta police station.

Wawan told the investigators that the gang, which has five members, was behind a number of armed robberies in the city over the past several years, including the robbery on Tutut's residence at Jl. Yusuf Adiwinata, Menteng, Central Jakarta, in April 2002.

From Tutut's residence, they managed to get away with Rp 260 million (US$30,588) in cash. In a single robbery in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, they got away with Rp 100 million, and another Rp 90 million from a house in Cinere, South Jakarta. In a robbery in Tebet, South Jakarta, they got away with Rp 30 million.

The police are still hunting for the other two group members.

According to Kusdiantoro, who is the son-in-law of National Police chief Gen. Da'i Bachtiar, the police had long been hunting the gang.

"The gang usually uses firearms and sharp weapons, and they don't hesitate to injure or even kill their victims. Most of their victims are bank customers," he said.

In the robberies in Tebet and Cinere, the robbers wounded their victims so severely that they later died.