Armed gang targets police officer's house

JAKARTA (JP): A group of armed robbers broke into a house of a police officer on Jl. Dewi Sartika in Cawang, East Jakarta, early Monday, making away with a gas tank and a telephone set.

Police remain in the dark about their number, but say there were at least two people in the gang. They said one of them was shot in the eye but had managed to escape with his accomplices.

According to city police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis, it was believed the gang gained entry into the house of Sgt. Maj. Rusdi Yasin by climbing over the front fence. Rusdi is the head of the police post at Halim Perdanakusuma air base, which is a few kilometers away from the house.

Rusdi and his family became aware of the gangs' presence at 3 a.m. after they heard noises and realized their telephone line had been cut.

"Knowing all of robbers were armed, Rusdi fired three warning shots, which upset the burglars and they then tried to attack him," officer Lubis said.

Rusdi took another shot at the burglars and reportedly hit one.

No other belongings were reported missing.

A few hours later, police received a report from Budhi Asih Hospital, also located on Jl. Dewi Sartika, about a man with a gunshot wound who had just been accompanied to the hospital by friends.

According to a nurse at the hospital, the wounded man was treated for only a few minutes before doctors told his friends to rush him to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta.

"We're a small hospital. We don't have the proper equipment to treat the man, who had been shot and had an eye injury," the nurse said without giving details of the injury.

At Cipto Mangunkusumo, an 18-year-old man identified as Adi Sulistio, a resident of Jl. Taman Harapan in Cawang, received medical treatment for a gunshot wound to his right temple.

Adi told The Jakarta Post that his mother rushed him to the hospital at 3 a.m. on Monday after he was shot in the right temple when he was squatting outside a building near Jl. Dewi Sartika in the wee hours. He had draped a sarong over his head and shoulders. He said he did not know who had shot him.

When asked, he refused to explain why he was outside the building at such an hour. Adi did not reveal anything about robbery.

The teenager was also unable to explain why he did not scream or call for help when he was shot. All he could say was that he had no idea about the identity of the shooter.

He said that after the shooting, he walked to his home, which is nearby, and met his mother, Nani Rustiati.

"I found my son with his face bleeding at 1:30 a.m," said his concerned mother.

Hospital worker Bambang said Adi's gunshot wound would not affect his right eye.

As of last night, police had yet to question Adi.

"Police are still trying to locate the whereabouts of the gang," Lubis said. (01/emf)